Nidheesh burst, Sachin fifty give Kerala second win

Kerala rode on the four-wicket haul of Nidheesh MD and the half-century of captain Sachin Baby to cause an upset win over table-toppers Delhi by two wickets in the Vijay Hazare Trophy at HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala on Tuesday.
With their second win on the trot, Kerala have gone up to third place in the Group B table with 10 points from four matches. Delhi stay top with 16 points from five matches followed by Maharashtra who also have 10 points from four matches but a better net run-rate than Kerala.
Chasing a moderate target of 179 in a match reduced to 42 overs, Kerala were guided by Sachin's composed half-century which eased the pressure despite wickets at the other end.By the time he was dismissed for 52 (57 balls; 7x4), Sachin had ensured that the match was in Kerala's pocket.
Mohammed Azharuddeen once again played a good hand at the end to finish the chase off with 21 as the target was achieved in 35.4 overs for the loss of eight wickets. Navdeep Saini picked up four wickets for Delhi.
Earlier, Nidheesh's fine death bowling wrapped up the Delhi innings for 15-20 runs less than they would have expected after a 66-run partnership for the eighth wicket between Dhruv Shorey (71 off 90 balls; 5x4, 1x6) and captain Pradeep Sangwan (25) had lifted them to 170.
Nidheesh removed Shorey, Sangwan and last man Kulwant Khejroliya in the space of 10 balls to end Delhi's innings at 177. Nidheesh, playing only his second list-A match, finished with his best figures of 4/41 in 8.3 overs.
Kerala's decision to field first was justified by the seamers who had reduced Delhi to 56 for the loss of four wickets, including the prized scalps of Unmukt Chand and Rishabh Pant.
Seamer Fanoos Fazil, who was drafted into the side just before this match following his good showing in the U-23 one-day league, impressed in his senior debut claiming two wickets for 27 in his eight overs.
Brief scores: Delhi 177 all out in 39.3 overs (Dhruv Shorey 71; Nidheesh MD 4/41, Fanoos Fazil 2/27) lost to Kerala 178/8 in 35.4 overs (Sachin Baby 52; Navdeep Saini 4/39, Kulwant Khejroliya 3/27) by 2 wickets