Delhi succumbed to a humiliating 75-run defeat at the hands of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) on Wednesday in the national one-dayers for the Vijay Hazare Trophy, at Anand, Gujarat.
A bowling line-up boasting of India Test star Ishant Sharma and India under-19 pace bowler Harshit Rana conceded 299/7 in 50 overs to J&K before the batsmen were shot out for 224 in 45.3 overs.
Only all-rounder Lalit Yadav (67 off 62 balls) and skipper Yash Dhull (49 off 56 balls) could stand up to the bowling challenge by J&K as all others failed. Himmat Singh got a start, scoring 35 off 37 balls but failed to convert it into a big score like the team’s two top-scorers.
Pace bowler Rasikh Salam picked 4/23 in 7.3 overs while left-arm spinner Abid Mushtaq took 3/28 to run through the Delhi batting. Leg-spinner Vivrant Sharma, who played IPL for Sunrisers Hyderabad but was released this year, took two wickets.
Earlier, J&K had got to 299 after captain and opener Shuham Khajuria scored a century (109 off 112 balls) and Auqib Nabi made unbeaten 44 off 24 balls (5x6s).
Medium-pacer Mayank Yadav took 3/55 and leg-spinner Suyash Sharma picked 2/57.
The loss makes Delhi’s chances of qualifying for the knockouts difficult as they have slipped to fifth position on the points table and are eight points adrift of Haryana and Karnataka, the top two teams in the pool with 16 points.
Delhi now face group leaders Haryana on December 1 in a must-win game.
