Delhi needed 20-odd overs to polish off the Rajasthan tail and score a thumping 172-run victory over the visitors in the Ranji Trophy Super League Group 'A' match in Delhi on Wednesday.
Chasing an improbable 422-run target, Rajasthan resumed at their overnight score of 188 for seven and it was largely because of Shailender Gehlot's defiant 85-ball 47 and Robin Bist's industrious 155-ball 69 that they were able to delay the inevitable.
Delhi pocketed five points from the match.
Delhi captain Mithun Manhas struck double blows in the 79th over, trapping Gehlot with the third ball of the over and getting Mohammad Aslam caught by Kunal Lal for a second-ball duck with the fifth delivery.
Pacer Amit Bhandari finally dropped curtains on the Rajasthan innings when he caught Bist off his own bowling as the visitors folded up for 172 runs.
Following the victory, Delhi soared to the top of Group A.
Delhi coach Vijay Dahiya will be happy with the way his wards shrugged off the first innings flop show when his team was all out for a meagre 115. They made amends in the second innings, scoring 387, thanks to handsome contributions from Virat Kohli (106), Manhas (100) and Rajat Bhatia (83).
Having Manoj Prabhakar as bowling coach worked wonders for the Delhi pacers, who shot out Rajasthan for a mere 85 in the first innings.
Delhi host Saurashtra in their second Group A match, while Rajasthan face Maharashtra at home on November 15-18.
Scorecard
Delhi (1st innings): 119
Rajasthan (1st innings): 85
Delhi (2nd innings): 387
Rajasthan (2nd innings): (Overnight 188 for 7)
V A Saxena lbw b Sangwan 0
GK Khoda c Dhawan b Nanda 71
APK Sharma lbw b Sangwan 26
R Bist c & b Bhandari 69
Shafiq Khan c Kunal Lal b Bhandari 3
R J Kanwat c Kohli b Bhandari 0
R B Jhalani b Nanda 3
Pankaj Singh lbw b Nanda 19
S G Gehlot lbw b Manhas 47
M Aslam c Kunal Lal b Manhas 0
S Mathur not out 1
Extras: (B-4, LB-2, NB-4) 10
Total: (All out in 81.1 overs) 249
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-69, 3-116, 4-123, 5-123, 6-146, 7-174, 8-245, 9-245.
Bowling: Pradeep Sangwan 18-5-45-2; Amiy Bhandari 10.1-3-17-3; Rajat Bhatia 9-2-32-0; Kunal Lal 11-1-46-0; Chetanya Nanda 24-7-72-3; Mithun Manhas 8-1-26-2; Aakash Chopra 1-0-5-0.
More from rediff