Virender Sehwag's wretched run in domestic cricket continued as the veteran opener failed to open his account but Delhi did manage to comfortably beat Punjab by four wickets to notch up their maiden win in the North Zone leg of the Vijay Hazare Trophy in Nadaun, on Saturday.
In a match reduced to 45 overs per side, Punjab managed to score a none-too-impressive 182 for six with Yuvraj Singh managing only 15. It was Taruwar Kohli (50) and Gurkeerat Singh Maan (47), who put on a steady stand to see Punjab past the 175-run mark.
In reply, Delhi knocked off the runs with an over to spare as veteran Rajat Bhatia (58 not out) anchored the chase to perfection with a 72-ball knock that had five fours and two sixes.
In fact, Bhatia also got the prize wicket of Yuvraj, who was foxed by a slower delivery and was caught and bowled to end his struggling innings.
When Delhi started the chase, Sehwag was dismissed for a first-ball duck as he nicked a swinging delivery from seamer Sandeep Sharma to wicketkeeper Geetansh Khera.
Gautam Gambhir (22) and Unmukt Chand (19) tried to steady the innings but they failed make it count. It was left to Bhatia and Puneet Bisht (30) and they made sure of taking Delhi to an easy victory.
Punjab captain Harbhajan Singh went wicketless for 49 runs in nine overs.
Delhi have four points from two matches while Punjab are staring at zonal leg exit after two successive defeats.
Brief Scores:
Punjab 182/6 (Yuvraj Singh 15, Taruwar Kohli 50, Gurkeerat Singh Mann 47, Sumit Narwal 3/23, Ashish Nehra 2/41).
Delhi 188/6 in 44 overs (Virender Sehwag 0, Gautam Gambhir 21, Rajat Bhatia 58 no).
Pandey, Nair help Karnataka crush Goa
Manish Pandey and Karun Nair struck unbeaten half-centuries as Karnataka cantered to an easy seven-wicket victory over Goa in the South Zone leg of the Vizay Hazare Trophy in Secunderabad.
Pandey (69 not out) and Nair (78 not out) put on an unbroken stand of 142 runs for the fourth wicket as Karnataka overhauled the target of 184 with 22.3 overs to spare.
Pandey's unbeaten 69 came from 58 deliveries and included 10 boundaries while Nair struck 11 fours and a six in his 65-ball knock of 78 not out.
Chasing a small target, Karnataka were in early trouble as they were reduced to 43 for three in the eighth over as Robin Uthappa (20), K L Rahul (5) and Mayank Agarwal (7) were dismissed cheaply.
Earlier, Goa produced a disappointing batting show as they were all out for 183 in 40.2 after electing to bat.
Darshan Misal was the only significant contributor with a 50-ball 51 while Keenan and Robin D'Souza made 27 each.
For Karnataka, Vinay Kumar, Udit Patel and Karun Nair grabbed two wickets apiece while Abhimanyu Mithun, H S Sharath and Shreyas Gopal took a wicket each.
Brief Scores:
Goa 183 all out in 40.2 overs (Darshan Misal 51; Karun Nair 2/16, Vinay Kumar 2/30, Udit Patel 2/32)
Karnataka 185 for 3 in 27.3 overs (Manish Pandey 69 not out, Karun Nair 78 not out; Sagar Naik 2/58).
Image: Virender Sehwag
Photograph: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images
