Delhi record clinical win over Odisha, earn bonus points

Having lost to Uttar Pradesh in the opening match at Ghaziabad, hosts Delhi came back strongly as they defeated minnows Odisha by 10 wickets in the second round Ranji Trophy encounter to get a bonus point along with six for the outright win.

Left-arm fast bowler Pawan Suyal polished off the lower-middle order, on Monday, to grab five for 93 as Odisha were all out for 269 in their second leaving Delhi with a target of 82.

Skipper Shikhar Dhawan blasted an unbeaten 55 off 49 balls with nine fours and a big six off Dheeraj Singh to ensure that Delhi got the bonus points as they knocked off the runs in only 15 overs.

The final day's play was about how long it would take for Delhi to wrap up proceedings. The moment Suyal got rival skipper Natraj Behra (45, 7x4) to edge one to Puneet Bisht behind the stumps, Odisha's challenge was over.

Deepak Behra (23) and Basant Mohanty (0) fished at Suyal's outgoing deliveries and were snapped up by Unmukt Chand at third slip.

Left-arm spinner Vikas Mishra finally had something to cheer about when Alok Mangaraj was holed out in the deep mid-wicket area by Sumit Narwal to end the innings.

Delhi coach Vijay Dahiya said that although they have won the match, there is still "some room for improvement."

"It's a big plus for us as Irfan Pathan won't be available for Baroda in our next home game from November 17-20. Irfan is a big name in domestic cricket. As far as our team is concerned, we will have Ashish (Nehra) and Rajat (Bhatia) playing the next game as we have decided to rotate our pace bowlers," Dahiya said.

Brief Scores:

Odisha: 143 & 269 (G Poddar 85, B Samantray 47, P Suyal 5/93)

Delhi: 331 & 82/0 (Shikhar Dhawan 55 no, U Chand 23 no)

Points: Delhi 7, Odisha 0.