Irani Cup 2008: First Day Review

The five-day match of Irani Cup 2009 has begun today at the Reliance Stadium, Vadodara between Delhi and Rest of India. Rest of India captain Anil Kumble won the toss and elected to bat first. However, his batsmen failed to justify his decision being bundled out on 252 in the first innings. Delhi openers remained undefeated putting on 16 runs at stumps.

Rest of India got off to a good start when their openers put on 77 runs for the first wicket partnership. Wasim Jaffer got out just after reaching his 50, while Rahul Dravid scored 46 before becoming the first dismissal of the Ishant Sharma who later picked up two more wickets for Delhi. However, the middle order batsmen failed to capitalize on the solid base proved by the opening pair. Subramaniam Badrinath, VVS Laxman, wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni failed to make big score, but Mohammad Kaif tried to build the innings. However, he also failed to make his 29 bigger, while in the lower order Harbhajan Singh played a crucial innings of 26 not out. Rest of India’s first innings reached the 250 mark thanks to small but important contributions from Rudra Pratap Singh and Munaf Patel, who scored 18 and 19 respectively.

For Delhi, Ishant Sharma and Pradeep Sangwan picked up three wickets each. Teenage left arm pacer Pradeep Sangwan impressed with his excellent bowling against some of the most experienced batsman of India. Delhi got to bat 5 overs today with Aakash Chopra and Gautam Gambhir batting on for 16 and 4 respectively as Delhi’s first innings reached at 21 without losing any wicket.

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