Left-arm spinner Murali Kartik's mesmerising spell (8 for 40) and a dogged 90 by J P Yadav went in vain as Delhi crushed defending champion Railways by seven wickets with two days to spare in the crucial Ranji Trophy Elite Group 'A' match in New Delhi, on Monday.
Railways had scored just 77 runs in their first innings and in reply Delhi scored 131, taking a vital 54-run lead. Railways in their second innings were all out for 180 leaving Delhi the victory target of 127 runs which they achieved in 31.2 overs for the loss of three wickets.
The second day's play of the tie saw 16 wickets falling for 321 runs in 100.1 overs as Delhi scored their first outright win in five matches in this competition and with six points and two matches to go kept their hopes alive of staying put in the elite group.
Railways, on the other hand, with four points from five outings and are in danger of getting relegated.
Resuming at their overnight score of 117 for 7, Delhi added 14 runs to their total before being all out in 3.1 overs. Kartik took all the three Delhi wickets that fell this morning, giving away two runs to finish with 8 for 40 runs off 23.1 overs, his best haul in Ranji Trophy.
Having conceded the 54-run lead, Railways failed to post a good total as leg spinner Abhishek Sharma spun them out for 180. The young spinner took five wickets for 39 runs.
The hosts should thank J P Yadav, who waged a lone battle on the crease for his side while wickets fell like nine pins on the other end. But for Yadav's 90 (9x4,195 minutes, 172 balls) Railways would have been in much worse condition.
The Railways innings lasted for 65.4 overs and apart from Yadav, others who crossed the double digit mark were Amit Pagnis (13), Raja Ali (16) and Yere Goud (17).
Delhi made light of the victory target, though they lost opener Virender Sehwag (0) when the total was nine, but a 76-run second wicket partnership between Shikhar Dhawan and Gautam Gambhir sealed the match in Delhi's favour. Dhawan was run out on 39 and Gambhir made a handy 43.
Sharma and Mithun Manhas saw Delhi through as the later took a single off Parida to secure the victory.
Scorecard:
Railways first innings: 77 all out (Y Sachdeva 5-20, C Nanda 3-19)
Delhi first innings: (overnight score 117-7)
S Dhawan c Wankhede b Parida 38
G Gambhir c Pagnis b Kartik 15
A Chopra c & b Kartik 7
M Manhas c Yadav b Kartik 12
V Sehwag c Wankhede b Kartik 15
M Tehlan c Yadav b Kartik 5
V Kumar c & b Kartik 13
A Sharma c Yadav b Parida 7
C Nanda c & b Kartik 1
A Bhandari st Wankhede b Kartik 8
Y Sachdeva not out 0
Extras (lb 5, nb 5) 10
Total (all out in 51.1 overs) 131
Fall of wickets: 1-37, 2-51, 3-74, 4-96, 5-96, 6-101, 7-114, 8-123, 9-124, 10-131.
Bowling: J P Yadav 5-1-19-0, S Bangar 2-0-3-0, M Kartik 23.1-8-40-8, K Parida 13-3-39-2, G Shankara Rao 8-2-25-0.
Railways second innings:
V Saxena lbw b Sehwag 3
G Shankara Rao lbw b Nanda 9
A Pagnis lbw b Sharma 13
J P Yadav c Gambhir b Sharma 90
S Bangar c & b Nanda 2
Raja Ali lbw b Sachdeva 16
Y Goud c Kumar b Sharma 17
S Khanolkar b Sharma 3
M Kartik lbw b Sehwag 0
S Wankhede b Sharma 6
K Parida not out 0
Extras (b 6, lb 3, nb 12) 21
Total (all out in 65.4 overs) 180
Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-18, 3-63, 4-72, 5-115, 6-156, 7-163, 8-166, 9-174, 10-180.
Bowling: A Bhandari 4-1-4-0, V Sehwag 17-0-39-2, C Nanda 20-2-56-2, Y Sachdeva 13-1-33-1, A Sharma 11.4-1-39-5.
Delhi second innings (Target: 127)
S Dhawan run out Saxena 39
V Sehwag c Bangar b Shankara Rao 0
G Gambhir c Khanolkar b Kartik 43
A Sharma not out 16
M Manhas not out 5
Extras (b 10, lb 6, nb 8) 24
Total (for 3 wickets in 31.2 overs) 127
Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-85, 3-114.
Bowling: J P Yadav 2-0-10-0, M Kartik 15-2-53-1, G Shankara Rao 4-0-20-1, K Parida 10.2-0-28-0.
Result: Delhi won by 7 wickets
(UNI)