Ranji Trophy final: Dhruv Shorey century, Himmat Singh revive Delhi vs Vidarbha

Dhruv Shorey and Himmat Singh played brilliantly to help Delhi recover against Vidarbha after Aditya Thakare took two wickets on debut in the first day of the Ranji Trophy final.

Delhi, playing their first Ranji Trophy final in a decade, stood in a precarious position against Vidarbha on Day 1. At 99/4, the seven-time champions stared at a low total at Indore’s Holkar Stadium, until Dhruv Shorey and Himmat Singh came to the rescue. (Highlights)

Delhi's batsman Himmat Singh celebrates after completing his half century during the Ranji Trophy final between Delhi and Vidarbha in Indore on Friday. (PTI)

The duo strung a 105-run stand to help Delhi reach a respectable 271/6 at stumps against Vidarbha, playing their maiden Ranji Trophy final, on Friday. While Shorey stayed unbeaten on 123, Himmat was out for 66. For Vidarbha, Rajneesh Gurbani and Aditya Thakare took two wickets each.

Shorey, who struck his third first-class century, said he concentrated on soaking the pressure after the top four batsmen fell cheaply. “It was all about staying in there, taking your time. I gave respect to the bowlers early on and after that it was my session,” the right-handed batsman told reporters after the day’s play.

“I got out in the 70-80s a lot. Thankfully, I got past the three-figure mark. I backed myself from the word go. The target for tomorrow will be to bat, bat and bat. It’s important to score as much as we can.”

Vidarbha’s brilliant start

Though Shorey and Himmat put the pressure back on Vidarbha in the final session, the latter took the honours in the morning session after winning the toss and electing to field.

Vidarbha gave Delhi an early jolt in the very first over on a pitch that assisted seamers early on. Debutant Thakare, who is a reserve player for the ICC Under-19 World Cup next year in New Zealand, got rid of opener Kunal Chandela for a duck.

Gautam Gambhir, the highest run-getter for Delhi this season, followed next. Offspinner Akshay Wakhare removed the veteran left-handed opener in the 13th over. For Wakhare, the dismissal was all the more special as it was his 200th first-class scalp.

Nitish Rana joined No. 3 Shorey next and hit a couple of boundaries off Thakare. He also struck a straight six off left-arm spinner Aditya Sarwate to make his intentions clear. However, Thakare got his revenge in the 27th over when he trapped the left-handed Rana in front of the wicket. Rana departed for 21.

Rishabh Pant, who has failed to score big this season, started off well but fell to fast bowler Gurbani. The Delhi captain wanted to play a wide delivery past point but edged the ball to wicket-keeper Akshay Wadkar, leaving the Delhi reeling at 99/4.

Shorey, Himmat come to rescue

If the morning session belonged to Vidarbha, then the final two were more or less dominated by Delhi. Shorey and No. 6 batsman Himmat brought up their fifties to ease the pressure.

The duo put on a 105-run partnership off just 149 balls before Himmat became Gurbani’s second victim. The right-handed batsman slammed 66 off just 72 balls with eight boundaries and two sixes.

Dhruv Shorey continued to pile on the runs and reached the three-figure mark with a single off Siddesh Neral towards long leg. Unlike Himmat, Shorey took his team but punished almost all loose balls coming his way.

At stumps on Day 1, Shorey had Vikas Mishra (5 not out) for company at the other end.