Delhi held their nerves to come through with three balls to spare against Haryana, sealing their fourth straight win in the north zone leg of the Vijay Hazare trophy one-day tournament on Sunday.
The hosts achieved the modest target of 214 to win by four wickets. Despite the low scoring affair, both teams fielded poorly and missed many easy chances to reprieve the batsmen. With this victory, Delhi have made sure of a place in the knockout stage.
Bowling first, Delhi pacers Parwinder Awana and Pawan Suyal reduced the visitors to 69 for three in the 19th over before Sachin Rana (47) and Rahul Diwan (56) put on a 75-run stand to anchor the second half of the innings.
Diwan, however, was dropped twice before Ashish Nehra finally had him caught.
The lower order ensured Haryana became the first team to last the full 50 overs against Delhi in the tournament.
Delhi openers Unmukt Chand (35) and Shikhar Dhawan (17) added 51 runs, but struggled to time the ball and fell in the space of eight deliveries. Chand was caught behind off paceman Mohit Sharma, only after 'keeper Nittin Saini missed a stumping .
Delhi's Mohit Sharma and Punit Bisht also got a life each while adding 56 runs together. Bisht was run out but Mohit took his team close. In the end, skipper Rajat Bhatia got Delhi home with a six. Brief Scores: Haryana 213/6 in 50 overs (Diwan 56; Awana 3/31) lost to Delhi 219/6 in 49.3 overs (Mohit Sharma 61; Patel 2/52)
Delhi's Mohit Sharma and Punit Bisht also got a life each while adding 56 runs together. Bisht was run out but Mohit took his team close. In the end, skipper Rajat Bhatia got Delhi home with a six. Brief Scores: Haryana 213/6 in 50 overs (Diwan 56; Awana 3/31) lost to Delhi 219/6 in 49.3 overs (Mohit Sharma 61; Patel 2/52)