Raipur. With the help of Navdeep Saini’s three wickets, Delhi secured three points on the basis of first innings lead against Chhattisgarh in the first match of the current Ranji Trophy season. Delhi took the lead in the first innings with the help of experienced Jonty Sidhu’s second first-class century. In reply to Chhattisgarh’s 243 runs, Delhi scored 357 runs in the first innings. Playing ahead by 33 runs without any loss, Chhattisgarh scored 179 runs for six wickets in 60 overs when both the captains agreed to a draw after seeing no result.
Saini took three wickets for 36 runs in 12 overs on the fourth day. Ayush Pandey (33) and Eknath Kerkar (13) were out early. By lunch, Chhattisgarh lost five wickets while the lead could not even reach 100 runs. Captain Khari and Ajay Mandal scored 17. Only 38 runs were added in 4 overs but so many overs were played that the match could be drawn.
In other matches, Tamil Nadu defeated Saurashtra by an innings and 70 runs in Coimbatore to gain seven points. In reply to Saurashtra’s 203 runs, Tamil Nadu scored 367 runs and in reply, Saurashtra team was out for 94 runs in the second innings. For Tamil Nadu, Gurjapaneet Singh took six wickets for 22 runs. The match between Jharkhand and Assam in Guwahati was a draw and Jharkhand got three points on the basis of first innings lead.