Ranji Trophy: Manan Sharma gives Delhi lead over Vidarbha

CHENNAI: For the second day in succession, it was Delhi who called the shots - claiming the first-innings honours against Vidarbha - in their Ranji Trophy clash at the SSN College Grounds here on Wednesday. Left-hander Manan Sharma (82, 9x4, 1x6) proved to be the saviour for Delhi as they were 250 for 8 at stumps, a lead of 67 over Vidarbha.

Manan, who walked in when Delhi were in a precarious position (102-6), stole the show with some brisk shot-making and purposeful running between the wickets. The left-hander had a major role to play in Delhi overhauling Vidarbha's total. He first added 63 for the seventh wicket with Milind, before being involved in an unfinished 72-run stand with Vikas Tokas (28 no, 4x4) that put Delhi in command.

Earlier, the first hour of the day belonged to Vidarbha as they got rid of night watchman Pradeep Sangwan (4), Unmukt Chand (0) and Gautam Gambhir in the space of 8 overs. Sangwan was caught by Shalabh Shrivastava at gully off Gurbani and Unmukt Chand failed to trouble the scorers, caught by keeper Wath off Wagh.

Barring skipper Gambhir (22, 3x4), none in the Delhi top-order even managed to reach doubles figures as Vidarbha reduced them to 47 for 4. If the opening day saw many queue up to watch Shikhar Dhawan bat, it was the turn of Gambhir to be in the limelight. The southpaw looked good during his 41-ball stay before he was trapped leg-before by medium-pacer Rajneesh Gurbani (4-76). The Vidarbha pacer received good support from fellow pacer Lalit Yadav (3-79) and left-arm seamer Shrikanth Wagh (1-49).

No. 5 Rishabh Pant (29, 4x4, 1x6) showed glimpses of his batting prowess, capitalizing on loose deliveries but also showing due respect by leaving good ones. However, Rishabh's 42-ball essay was cut short when he went for a pull off pacer Lalit (3-79) but only managed to find keeper Wath's glove, leaving Delhi in trouble at 74 for 5. Much like Vidarbha, the lower-order of Delhi began the repair job. Handy contributions from Nitin Rana (27, 5x4), Milind (37, 5x4) ensured it was Delhi who had the bragging rights as the contest heads to Day 3.