Delhi fighting for survival against Mumbai

NEW DELHI - Left-arm spinner Iqbal Abdullah’s five-wicket haul on a green top left Delhi fighting for survival and helped defending champions Mumbai notch up the first innings lead on the second day of the Ranji Trophy Super League match here Wednesday.

Resuming at 47 for two, Delhi batting crumbled for 201 nearly an hour after lunch, conceding a 66-run lead and alongwith it three crucial points. The hosts need to pull off an outright win to qualify for the knockout stage.

At the close of play, Mumbai were comfortably batting at 74 for the loss of two wickets with an overall lead of 140 runs. Sahil Kukreja was batting at 25 and first-innings top scorer Surya Kumar Yadav 3.

Mumbai, who are already through to the quarterfinals, showed the depth and variety in their attack as 21-year-old spinner Abdullah (5-25) took the pride of place in visitor’s bowling. This a day after Mumbai chose to bat first on a lively surface and were bundled out for 267 by the Delhi’s four-pronged pace attack.

Mumbai, however, had pushed Delhi on the backfoot, taking two quick wickets, including that of Virat Kohli Wednesday.

The overnight pair of Shikhar Dhawan and skipper Mithun Manhas lasted barely eight overs in the morning. Moondeep Mangela separated their 45-run stand when Dhawan (32, 83b, 6×4), who had added just seven runs to his overnight total, slashed him to gully only to find Rohit Sharma.

Manhas (66) and Mayank Tehlan (29) then dug in their heels to prop up the Delhi scoring. Manhas, who missed the previous match due to a groin strain, looked in good touch, racing to his 50 in 79 balls with the help of 10 fours. However, just when things looked in favour of Delhi, the two fell in quick succession minutes before lunch.

Manhas, who looked to aggravate his groin injury and batted with a runner in Unmukt Chand during the latter part of his innings, failed to read an Aavishkar Salvi’s (2-53) incoming delivery that hit his bat and knocked off the bails, and thus ended their 77-run partnership for the fourth wicket. Tehlan was caught at covers by Praful Vagela while attempting to drive Abdullah as Delhi took lunch at 152 for five.

Much depended on seasoned Rajat Bhatia (8) to save the host the blushes but he, too, departed early in the second session, flicking an Abdullah full toss to Prashant Naik at the mid-wicket. In fact, the last six batsmen could muster only 61 runs before dragging their willows back to the hut.