Virat Kohli showed great strength of character as he played a vital innings of 90 just hours after his father's demise while Puneet Bisht hit a ton to help Delhi avoid the follow-on against Karnataka in the Ranji Trophy Super League Group 'A' match in New Delhi on Tuesday.
The 18-year-old Kohli, who was unbeaten overnight at the score of 40, decided to continue his stint in the middle on the third day of the match despite his father's death due to cardiac arrest early this morning.
A picture of concentration, Kohli, although missed a century, he along with wicket-keeper Bisht, who smashed a superb 156, shaped Delhi's fightback taking the team's total to 308.
At close, Karnataka, who gained a 138-run first innings lead, were 32 for 1 in their second essay with Robin Uthappa and Bharat Chipli at the crease.
Earlier, resuming at 103 for 5 in reply to Karnataka's huge first inning score of 446, Kohli's commitment towards the team's cause under the testing circumstances was really commendable.
During the rock-solid 238-ball effort, that consumed 281 minutes, Kohli was fluent especially through the off-side region as he also struck 16 boundaries.
Kohli and Bisht were also involved in a crucial 152-run stand for the sixth wicket to reduce the first innings deficit for Delhi, who at one stage were reeling at 59 for 5.
With half of the side back in the hut on the second day itself, it needed a monumental effort from the rest of the team to achieve the follow-on target of 297.
Looking comfortable for a major part, both Kohli and Bisht, who were timing the ball well and finding the gaps, safely negotiated the opening hour.
Nearly 20 minutes before lunch, the second new ball did the trick for Karnataka as seamer B Akhil got the much needed breakthrough with the wicket of Kohli to a rather doubtful caught behind decision.
After returning to the pavilion, Kohli was allowed to rush back home to attend his father's last rites.
Delhi were guided past the follow-on target through Bisht, who playing with the last man, achieved their primary aim by taking a single off Sunil Joshi's bowling in the closing stages of the middle session.
Bisht, who was dropped thrice, struck 21 boundaries and one six during his 347-minute stay at the crease.
Scoreboard:
Delhi 1st innings:
A Chopra b Kumar 0
S Dhawan lbw b Akhil 8
M Tehlan lbw b Akhil 0
M Manhas lbw b Kumar 4
V Kohli c Naidu b Akhil 90
R Bhatia c Joshi b Akhil 18
P Bisht c Naidu b Akhil 156
C Nanda c Akhil b Joshi 6
A Nehra b K P Appanna 1
K Lal lbw b Joshi 1
I Sharma not out 1
Extras (10b, 6lb, 2nb, 5w) 23
Total (all out in 119 overs) 308
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-7, 3-14, 4-14, 5-59, 6-211, 7-270, 8-277, 9-278.
Bowling: Vinay Kumar 26-7-78-2; B Akhil 25-8-58-5; Stuart Binny 16-5-44-0; Sunil Joshi 34-13-54-2; K P Appanna 11-0-43-1; C Raghu 7-1-15-0.
Karnataka 2nd innings:
R Uthappa not out 26
R Barrington b Bhatia 5
B Chipli not out 0
Extras (1nb) 1
Total (for 1 wkt in 14.5 overs) 32
Fall of wicket: 1-32.
Bowling: Ashish Nehra 4-1-4-0; Ishant Sharma 4-1-10-0; Rajat Bhatia 3.5-2-5-1; Chetnya Nanda 3-1-13-0.
