Ranji Trophy: Unsung heroes on song

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New Delhi, December 28

Harshit Rana could be excused for being inconsistent with his line and length in his opening spell. In only his second First-Class match, the tall 21-year-old pacer was given the responsibility of spearheading Delhi’s bowling attack.

My idea was to encourage them to play shots and not leave the deliveries. I was not worried about getting hit for two boundaries in an over, we had to take wickets Harshit Rana, Delhi bowler

Rana was charged up after already having made his presence felt with the bat. With Delhi struggling at 237/8 in their Ranji Trophy Group B match against Tamil Nadu, Rana played a crucial cameo to take the hosts past 300. Rana, alongside allrounder Pranshu Vijayran, mounted a counterattack as the duo added 57 runs off 58 balls. Rana hit three fours and one six in his 33-ball 26, while Vijayran, also playing in his second First-Class game, scored 58 off 79 balls. The 27-year-old smashed five fours and three sixes enroute his maiden First-Class half-century as Delhi ended their first innings at 303.

After putting up a competitive total, the hosts needed new-ball bowlers Rana and Kuldeep Yadav to make early inroads. However, Rana and left-arm seamer Yadav could not get their line and length right. Tamil Nadu’s openers B Sai Sudharsan (25) and N Jagadeesan (34) pounced on the opportunity as the visitors raced away to 39 runs in only 5.4 overs.

Delhi finally got the breakthrough when Yadav, who possesses the ability to swing the ball both ways, forced an edge from Sudharsan with an out-swinger. Vijayran then got one to straighten from length and had Jagadeesan caught behind as well.

However, brothers Indrajith Baba and Aparajith Baba took control of the match. The duo milked the young Delhi attack on their way to an eye-pleasing 86-run partnership for the third wicket. The main feature of their partnership was the way they dealt with the spinners. Both used their feet against left-arm spinner Vikas Mishra to find the cover fence and guided Lalit Yadav’s fast off-breaks to get boundaries in the third man area.

With Delhi’s back against the wall, Rana returned to provide the breakthroughs in the final session.

Rana, who is a product of the Players Cricket Academy, managed to get sharp bounce with the old ball to bring Delhi back into the game.

From 162/3, Tamil Nadu were reduced to 200/5 as Rana dismissed Aparajith (57) and Indrajith (71), both caught at square leg. He also removed Washington Sundar for two as Tamil Nadu ended Day 2 at 214/5 with the match evenly poised.

“We wanted to attack the openers and in doing so we sprayed the ball around but then we recovered to bowl well,” Rana said.

Rana was proud of the way he executed the short ball against Indrajith and Aparajith. “My idea was to encourage them to play shots and not leave the deliveries. I was not worried about getting hit for two boundaries in an over, we had to take wickets,” Rana said.

Brief scores: Delhi 303 in 97.1 overs (Shorey 66, Vijayran 58, Sidhu 57; Vignesh 4/50, Warrier 4/106) vs Tamil Nadu 214/5 in 54 overs (Indrajith 71, Aparajith 57; Rana 3/73)