Gritty Sangwan shows the way for Delhi on tough day

As an opening batter in First Class cricket, Sanat Sangwan belongs more to the classical mould. At the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Saturday, the left-hand batter’s grit and sturdy defence came in handy as he battled his way to 99, off 230 deliveries, on day one of the Elite Group-D Ranji Trophy fixture between Delhi and Pondicherry. Sangwan’s knock was the platform on which the home team reached 248 for six in 80 overs on a testing day for its batters.

Sumit Mathur, unbeaten on 49 at stumps, played his part for Delhi in a partnership of 106 runs with Sangwan.

For Pondicherry, medium-pacer Abin Mathew struck thrice. He denied Sangwan a century late in the day, shrewdly offering a wide, full ball to entice the 25-year-old into a drive that took the outside edge.

With visiting skipper Sagar Udeshi opting to bowl, the opening session was a case of the seamers holding sway. The pair of Gourav Yadav and Mathew found movement with the new ball, and tested the techniques of Delhi’s top-order. Arpit Rana succumbed leg-before without opening his account to an in-swinging delivery from Mathews in the second over of the innings.

While Yash Dhull struck a couple of crisp boundaries through the off-side, an attempted cut off seamer Aman Khan went awry in the 19th over.

Sangwan, who took 36 balls to get off the mark, was complemented ably by debutant Priyansh Arya in a 64-run stand for the third wicket. It didn’t take long for Priyansh to demonstrate his aggressive strokeplay, a feature of his game in the shorter formats. He raced to 40 off 28 deliveries after smashing veteran offie Jayant Yadav for two consecutive sixes through long-off. But before the southpaw could inflict more damage, Jayant drew Priyansh forward and beat his outside edge to get him stumped.

The scores: Delhi — 1st innings: Arpit Rana lbw b Mathew 0, Sanat Sangwan c Siddhaant b Mathew 99, Yash Dhull c Sidhaant b Aman 19, Priyansh Arya st Sidhaant b Jayant 40, Ayush Doseja c Rohera b Mathew 17, Sumit Mathur (batting) 49, Anuj Rawat c sub (Premraj) b Jayant 5, Hrithik Shokeen (batting) 11; Extras (b-4, lb-4): 8; Total (for six wickets. in 80 overs): 248.

Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-30, 3-94, 4-123, 5-229, 6-236.

Pondicherry bowling: Gourav 9-3-20-0, Mathew 17-4-47-3, Datey 14-1-35-0, Aman 10-0-44-1, Udeshi 10-1-32-0, Jayant 20-4-62-2.

Toss: Pondicherry.