[1]Skipper Virender Sehwag hit a timely century but his teammates failed to rise to the occasion as Uttar Pradesh knocked off the 155 runs required in 39.2 overs to register a four-wicket win over Delhi in their Ranji Trophy Group B opening match at the Nehru Stadium here on Monday.
Although the hosts had 50 overs at their disposal to achieve the target, the fading light added a twist to the contest but Arish Alam (15 not out, 16b, 2x4) and Ali Murtaza (14 not out, 15b, 3x4) took just 22 deliveries for the last 27 runs as UP finished at 158/4.
Sehwag’s 107-run knock came off 165 deliveries with 19 boundaries, much to the cheer of the crowd, which on all four days of the match have been thronging the venue to see some fireworks from the India regulars.
But his innings, with an injured finger, failed to raise the stakes for his team.
Imtiaz Ali (4/112) added three more scalps to his one wicket overnight to finish with an overall tally of 9/171 from the match.
However, nothing went right for the duo in the first session of the day as Sehwag took them to task adding 29 off 32 balls to complete his half-century after a slow start on Sunday.
And the 34-year-old continued the run scoring flow even after the departure of his overnight partner Mithun Manhas (65) and Sumit Narwal (0).
Links:
[1] http://103.241.136.51/04sehwag-ed0jpgcropdisplayjpg-765