As Ayush Badoni and Ayush Duseja were in the midst of an effective partnership, as the afternoon wore on and batting conditions became ideal at the Feroz Shah Kotla Grounds on Monday, Delhi appeared to have recovered enough to force their opponents into a tough chase.
After spending two days behind and conceding the first innings to Jammu and Kashmir, Badoni and Dosiga brought up two fifties as the home team’s batting showed intent to pick up quick runs and make a match out of it. What worked was a collapse that seemed to come out of nowhere and left them teetering on the brink of defeat.
Badoni was sent packing after a 73-ball 72, thanks to good running and a diving catch from Vivrant Sharma at deep square leg. Inexplicably, from there, Delhi would lose their last six wickets after adding just 35 more runs, the last five of which falling during a 25-ball spell just after tea. It left the hosts 178 runs short when there was so much to gain, and J&K raced through the final hour to finish at 55/2 at stumps, leaving them 124 runs short of a first ever win over Delhi in the Ranji Trophy.
Unlike the first innings, where a brilliant spell of swing bowling from Aqib Nabi led to the hosts collapsing, the second innings wickets fell largely to the spin. Among J&K’s spinners, left-arm pacer Vanshaj Sharma will be the top pick of the bunch, as he has taken six wickets for 68 runs, including four of the last five.
Born and raised in Jammu, this is a familiar place for Vanchai, who moved to Delhi when he was eight years old. He is currently settled in Dwarka, where he grew up playing school level cricket alongside some of his rivals here.
The 22-year-old is not a first choice for his state team, as he usually does not play at home where conditions are right for the seamer. He was the third option for J&K in this game, who decided to field only two fast bowlers. Playing just his fourth top-flight game, he achieved his best numbers, but insisted the key is to keep things simple when there is not a lot of help from the pitch.
“Sometimes, the ball stays low, but otherwise it reaches the bat very well. Badoni and Dosija showed that when they were batting,” Vanchai told reporters here on Monday. “So we decided to throw it slowly. It was mostly flat but the odd ball was spinning, and to find that, I kept throwing it slowly. It ended up working out well.”
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In essence, the militants in Delhi had only themselves to blame. The J&K batsmen will prove just as capable as opener Qamran Iqbal went bowling in the 11 overs he faced before the end of play, hitting six boundaries which came against both pace and spin.
The home team’s performance was indicative of their recent form, with their lineup options disjointed and inconsistent performances, especially with the ball. They are winless in their three matches this season, the last two of them at home, and the last match saw them lose in the first round to Puducherry as well. On Tuesday, they will need a drastic change in conditions overnight, or a bowling experience to turn their season around.
Abbreviated degrees: Delhi 211 and 277 all in 69.1 overs (Aayush Badoni 72, Aayush Duseja 62; Vanshaj Sharma 6/68, Lutra 3/73) for Jammu and Kashmir 311 and 55/2 (Qamran Iqbal 32 not out).
(Tags for translation) Delhi
