Group D: Delhi kick off campaign with 3 points as Saini takes 3 wickets on final day

Jonty Sidhu, a seasoned cricket player, achieved his second first-class century, helping Delhi secure a narrow lead in the first innings. Delhi had posted a total of 357 runs in their first innings by the end of the third evening, after Chattisgarh had scored 343 runs in their initial batting.

Starting the final day at 33 for no loss, Chattisgarh reached 179 for 6 in 60 overs when the two captains Amandeep Khare and Himmat Singh decided to shake hands with no outright result possible in a session's play that was left.

For Delhi under new head coach Sarandeep Singh, it can be termed a decent start especially if one looks at how the two previous seasons have panned out.

On the fourth morning, it was a five-over spell by Saini that had rocked Chattisgarh with Aayush Pandey and Eknath Kerkar being dismissed in quick succession. By lunch, Chattisgarh had lost five wickets with less than 100-run lead.

But skipper Khare and Ajay Mandal batted for 17.4 overs adding only 38 runs for the sixth wicket but more importantly consumed enough overs to ensure a solitary point for their team.

Once Saini got Khare trapped leg before with the old ball, Delhi did raise slender vision of victory but Mandal and former Mumbai batter Bhupen Lalwani played out another 9.2 overs as the match petered out towards a draw.

Brief Scores

In Raipur: Chattisgarh 343 and 179/6 .

Points: Delhi 3 Chattisgarh 1.

In Coimbatore: Saurashtra 203 and 94 all out in 40.4 overs .

Tamil Nadu 367. TN won by an innings and 70 runs. Points: TN 7 Saurashtra 0.

In Guwahati: Jharkhand 361 and 74/3 .

Assam 180 and 355 . Points: Jharkhand 3; Assam 1.

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