Delhi pace bowler Siddhant Sharma’s three-wicket burst hastened Assam’s collapse.
| Photo Credit: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR

Midway into the second session on Tuesday afternoon, Delhi sealed a 10-wicket victory against Assam at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in the third round of the Ranji Trophy. The home team’s first outright win of the season came with a bonus point by virtue of openers Sanat Sangwan and Gagan Vats taking it past the paltry target of 59 in the fourth innings with all wickets intact.

Delhi’s triumph was a foregone conclusion once the visitor, 44 for three overnight, lost three wickets within the first ten minutes of the final day to be reduced to 45 for six. From that bleak situation, Assam was still able to overcome the overall deficit of 124 runs thanks to wicketkeeper-batter Sumit Ghadigaonkar stepping up for the second straight innings. He remained unbeaten on 76, but negligible support from the others meant Assam folded for 182.

Ghadigaonkar and Assam’s lower-order did enjoy a fair slice of fortune, with Delhi’s players guilty of dropping a few catches that they would have snaffled with ease on another day. Harshit Rana, who is set to join India’s squad for the third Test against New Zealand in Mumbai from Friday, bore the brunt of the spilled chances. He was not free of blame given that he also dropped Ghadigaonkar off his own bowling.

The frustration didn’t last too long, however, as Delhi polished off the lower-order at the stroke of lunch. When play resumed, Sangwan and Vats were able to complete the task at hand in 16.1 overs for a win that seemed improbable at the end of day two.

Delhi coach Sarandeep Singh hopes for this performance to fuel belief for the remainder of the season. “The boys need to have the belief they can win. You have to feel that you are a champion team. Winning is a habit. If you don’t win, you won’t get that habit. And if you don’t win, you won’t get confidence,” the former India off-spinner told reporters after the game.

The scores:

Assam — 1st innings: 330

Delhi — 1st innings: 454

Assam — 2nd innings: Subham Mandal lbw b Sidhu 18, Rishav Das c Himmat b Rana 10, Abhishek Thakuri lbw b Grewal 9, Denish Das b Rana 1, Sibsankar Roy c Grewal b Siddhant 4, Bhargav Dutta (run out) 0, Sumit Ghadigaonkar (not out) 76, Sarupam Purkayastha lbw b Grewal 25, Mukhtar Hussain c Mathur b Siddhant 18, Mrinmoy Dutta b Siddhant 4, Rahul Singh b Grewal 4; Extras (b-9, w-2, nb-2): 13; Total (in 42 overs): 182.

Fall of wickets: 1-17, 2-34, 3-44, 4-44, 5-45, 6-45, 7-87, 8-109, 9-146.

Delhi bowling: Rana 11-1-61-2, Grewal 12-1-50-3, Chauhan 8-3-18-0, Mathur 3-0-20-0, Sidhu 1-1-0-1, Siddhant 7-0-24-3.

Delhi — 2nd innings: Sanat Sangwan (not out) 34, Gagan Vats (not out) 25; Extras (nb-3): 3; Total (for no loss. in 16.1 overs): 62.

Assam bowling: Hussain 3-2-4-0, Mrinmoy 6-0-20-0, Bhargav 3-0-15-0, Purkayastha 2-0-10-0, Rahul 2-0-9-0, Sibsankar 0.1-0-4-0.

PoM: Sumit Mathur.