An unbeaten 92-run fourth wicket partnership between captain Mithun Manhas and and Ajay Jadeja helped Delhi post 233 for 3 on the opening day of their crucial Ranji Trophy fixture in Elite group against hosts Baroda in Vadodara on Tuesday.

When stumps were drawn for the day, Mithun was on 49 while Jadeja was batting on 41.

After their lacklusture performances in the earlier matches due to absence of some of their top players, the Delhi batsmen, today, seemed to be regaining the lost touch.

On winning the toss, Baroda captain Jacob Martin took the decision to send the visitors in to bat first.

Openers Gautam Gambhir and Rajat Bhatia started on a brisk note and took the total to 96 when Bhatia became victim of Shekhar Joshi on 49.

But Gambhir succeeded in making 52 runs off 104 balls which included 5 hits to the fence. However, he did not survive for long and followed Bhatia to the pavilion at a total of 122 runs for 2 wickets.

Vijay Dahiya could not do much and was cheapely out at his individual total of 16 runs.

Mithun and Jadeja then played with great responsibility. The duo realised the need to win the tie in order to remain in contention for a berth in semis.

Scoreboard

Delhi 1st innings:
 G Gambhir c Mongia b Joshi        52
 R Bhatia lbw b Joshi                     49
 V Dahiya lbw b Pathan                16
 M Manhas batting                        49
 A Jadeja batting                           41
Extras (13-b, 6-lb, 4-nb, 3-w)    26
Total (for 3 wkts, 90 overs)     233
Fall of wickets: 1/96, 2/122, 3/141
Bowling: Rakesh Patel 25-4-75-0, Irfan Pathan Snr 19-4-50-1, Shekhar Joshi 17-7-30-2, Valmik Buch 22-7-47-2, Tushar Arothe 7-0-12-0.