Mayank Tehlan slammed a maiden double hundred in first class cricket, scoring exactly 200, as hosts Delhi put Baroda on the mat with a first innings lead of 249 runs on the penultimate day of the Elite Group 'A' Ranji Trophy match in Delhi on Monday.
Baroda, in their second essay, were 35 for no loss in 16 overs, with Rishikesh Parab and Connor Williams batting on 16 runs each.
Resuming on 108, Tehlan, cousin of Virender Sehwag, lost the other overnight batsman Virat Kohli (21), but next man in Rajat Bhatia (106) proved the perfect foil. The duo milked the toothless Baroda attack with consummate ease, forcing the visitors to resort to negative tactics, which though hardly made an impression on the two in-form batsmen.
Ajit Bhoite's dropping Tehlan, when the batsman was on 79 on Sunday, came to haunt the visitors, who tried everything but just could not perturb the right-hander.
Rajat Bhatia, meanwhile, played his shots and it was after putting on 149 runs for the fifth wicket that the duo were separated when Tehlan was caught at cover off Yousuf Pathan. But, by then, the Delhi batsman had scored 200 off 370 balls, inclusive of 27 fours, during his nine-hour-plus stay in the middle.
Rajesh Pawar finally dismissed Bhatia after the latter had scored 106 runs, inclusive of six boundaries and two sixes, in his 268-minute knock.
Rajesh Pawar and Yousuf Pathan claimed four wickets each for Baroda.
Baroda captain Jacob Martin said his team would try to bat out the entire final day on Tuesday to avert an outright defeat.
''They have taken the upper hand in the match, thanks to the century and double century. The dropped catch cost us dearly and it was one of those matches where our batting, bowling and fielding failed to click,'' Martin said.
Scorecard
Baroda (1st innings): 244 all out
Delhi (1st innings): (Overnight 256 for 3)
Mayank Tehlan c Solanki b Yousuf Pathan 200
Virat Kohli c Panchal b Irfan Pathan Sr 21
Rajat Bhatia c Solanki b Pawar 106
Punit Bisht c Martin b Yousuf Pathan 8
Kunal Lal c Shah b Yousuf Pathan 0
Yogesh Sachdeva c Irfan Pathan Sr b Pawar 8
Ashish Nehra b Yousuf Pathan 0
Ishant Sharma not out 7.
Extras: (B-8, LB-6, W-1, NB-9) 24
Total: (All out in 154.4 overs) 493
Fall of wickets: 1-22, 2-77, 3-212, 4-284, 5-433, 6-457, 7-457, 8-478, 9-479.
Bowling: Rakesh Patel 34-6-100-0, Irfan Pathan Sr 23-5-54-2, Ketan Panchal 16-2-48-0, Rajesh Pawar 53.4-7-149-4, Yousuf Pathan 23-0-103-4, Ajit Bhoite 5-0-25-0.
Baroda (2nd innings):
Rishikesh Parab not out 16
Connor Williams not out 16
Extras: (B-1, W-1, NB-1) 3
Total: (For no loss in 16 overs) 35
Bowling: Ashish Nehra 6-2-6-0, Ishant Sharma 7-3-17-0, Kunal Lal 2-0-5-0, Yogesh Sachdeva 1-0-6-0.
