Vijay Hazare Trophy: Siva Kumar stars as Andhra romp to six-wicket win vs Delhi, enter semis

NEW DELHI: Medium-pacer D Siva Kumar was carrying a groin injury but he still ran through the Delhi top order to set up his side's perfect six-wicket win over the hosts in the quarterfinals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy at the Palam cricket ground, here on Thursday.
With practically no superstar in the team, Andhra were clinical in their approach and did everything correctly.Right from winning the toss and electing to field to bowling an immaculate line and length, Andhra dismissed Delhi for a cheap 111 in 32.1 overs. The team from south, in reply, took 28.4 overs to reach the winning target of 112 for the loss of four wickets.
Skipper GH Vihari called it right and had no hesitation in bowling first as the conditions were apt for his pacers. Delhi opener Unmukt Chand was the first to depart as he was beaten by an incoming delivery from the 28-year-old Siva Kumar. Almost two overs later, Gautam Gambhir, on whose shoulders lay the responsibility of ensuring a good start for Delhi, fell prey to an outswinger from Siva as he was caught by B Sumanth at the square-leg region. The other Delhi opener Hiten Dalal was Siva's third victim as the ball kept low and uprooted the stump. Thereafter, wickets kept falling at regular intervals as the Delhi batsmen ran out of steam and ideas to counter the disciplined Andhra attack.
Besides Siva, medium-acer Bandaru Ayyappa and left-arm spinner Bhargav Bhatt were other two significant performers with the ball. The only batsman who looked convincing at the crease for the home team was Rishabh Pant, who in uncharacteristic manner took 46 balls to compile 38. Pant, who was keenly watched by the National selectors, became Siva's fourth victim. Pant’s promising innings was cut short by a slower ball from Siva.
Before Pant got out, he tried to build a partnership with Dhruv Shorey (21) but it was tough to keep the scorecard ticking because the Andhra bowlers just struck to the basics of the game — bowling stump to stump.
The hosts, however, should take blame for the collapse but instead they consoled themselves by saying that the Andhra bowlers weren’t fast enough on a slow track. The only batsman who could have made some difference was Gambhir but his wicket early on ensured that Delhi would eventually find it tough to put together a competitive total.
In reply, Andhra did what they have been doing in the last six matches of the tournament so far that has kept them unbeaten. There was a little bit of pressure after they lost two quick wickets at the top with KS Bharat (0) and skipper Vihari (6) falling cheaply but Ashwin Hebbar, Ricky Bhui and Sumanth had other ideas.
Hebbar added 54 with Bhui (36) and another 35 with Sumanth before falling for 38. Sumanth (25 no) and DB Ravi Teja (3 no) ensured an easy win and a passage to the semis.
For Delhi, Ishant Sharma took one wicket along with his new ball partner Navdeep Saini. Their left-arm spinner Pawan Negi too delivered a good nine-over spell giving away only 20 runs to take a wicket, but in the end, Andhra, literally, had a cake-walk.