Delhi had not beaten Mumbai in a first-class match since the days of Mohinder Amarnath, Bishan Singh Bedi and Kirti Azad. The unannounced team led by Himmat Singh ended Friday’s win drought with his Ferozeshah Kotla. That top batsman took an attacking approach to win by eight wickets as he chased a 95-run target before lunch. The victory was the second against the 41-time champion. Twenty matches between the two teams in 1979-80 were either losses or draws.
Delhi was furious after No.11 Royston Dias was sacked by off spinner Hrithik Shokeen for his two overs of the day after the last wicket partnership was quickly broken. Anuj Rawat attacked Mohit Abasti in the second over of the run chase, scoring 14 runs from his first three deliveries before leaving with one top. He fumbled for a 6, leaping over the lane and driving the ball into long-on territory, followed by two 4s, both of which crossed the offside line. Derry had already dropped him down to 26 by the end of the over, but when Shokeen got close to his 1, the ball grabbed the racket’s shoulder and he flew over a 4 slip.
Shokeen, who played aggressively in the first innings, was also unwilling to take time and showed his intentions by playing a cover drive for four in the next over.
A spin was introduced in the 6th over, bringing Shams Murani to the bowl. But hitters from starters Vaibab Sharma and Shoukeen got behind him, especially in his third over at the end of a left-arm spinner. With 31 runs needed, Murani oddly took a negative line, causing his delivery to land outside a foot stump. That strategy didn’t work if the goal was to calm the thugs. Baring all three stumps to gain his own space, Shokeen toned the ball through additional cover and scored a four before paddling another past the short-footed skinny fielder . The end was near:
Shokeen went down the stretch on his Mulani’s next over and reached the border at mid-on, Vaibhav was relatively calm on the other side and off spinner he slammed Tanush Kotian with his six .
Bybuff finally came to a dead end when trying to achieve another big hit. Returning to Delhi in that match, Nitish Rana hit a six on his first throw to clinch the win.
Batting Regardless of the quality of his art, the Mumbai bowler could have gone the length wrong. Left-arm seamer Royston Diaz and Murani both bowled a little too short to cause problems for batsmen. Especially Mumbai was confusing because I could only catch up with early ticket gates. Pitching the ball fuller, as Divisi Mehra did on his third day, would have given him more chances to get the batter out.
Mumbai captain Ajinkya Rahane never intended to dwell on history, but he was lenient with the loss. “Delhi played really well. They showed their intentions with their sticks and the ball. They were very lucky.”