Delhi under-25 crash out of CK Nayudu cricket

Delhi under-25 have crashed out of Col CK Nayudu Trophy despite winning their last league match against Nagaland by a whopping innings and 343 runs.

Delhi finished third in Group D with 23 points behind Mumbai (36) and Saurashtra (24). Mumbai moved into the last eight stage while Saurashtra have been drawn to play pre-quarterfinals.

Delhi had gone into the last game almost with no chance after the penultimate game proved to be their undoing. Needing first-innings lead to get at least three important points in the second last game, against Saurashtra, which were crucial to keep them in the hunt, Delhi squandered the opportunity as they crashed to a 94-run defeat.

The performance of batsmen was unimpressive with only three half-centuries coming on a surface that supported spin. A couple of bowlers, Mayank Rawat and Yogesh Sharma, took four-wicket hauls in the low-scoring game.

Delhi entered the last game without much chance and as expected walloped their opponents with ease.

Left-arm spinner Rounak Waghela, a 15-year-old, who was drafted into the match against Saurashtra but bowled just seven overs for 37 runs picking one wicket, was the star of the final game as he picked five wickets for no runs in three overs in the first innings to bowl Nagaland out for 69 and then took four wickets for 24 runs in 7.2 overs in the second innings as Nagaland succumbed to 112.

Delhi had, earlier, notched 524/9 in 109 overs with Hardik Sharma (130) and Sumit Mathur (105) scoring centuries and skipper Mayank Rawat (96) and Aryan Dalal (68) scoring fifties.

“We were a bit unlucky because rain affected a couple of our games. But it was a satisfactory performance. We could have done better against Saurashtra but the spin-friendly track in Rajkot suited Saurashtra better,” said team coach Pankaj Singh, a former international.