da dobrowin： Delhi and Uttar Pradesh shared honours on an eventful day’s play onthe opening day of the three day Vijay Merchant Trophy (under- 16)final at the Eden Gardens on Saturday
Staff Reporter13-Jan-2001Delhi and Uttar Pradesh shared honours on an eventful day’s play onthe opening day of the three day Vijay Merchant Trophy (under- 16)final at the Eden Gardens on Saturday. UP did well in dismissing Delhifor 155 in 72.5 overs but they themselves lost two wickets for 42 off28 overs by stumps.Put in to bat, Delhi made a bad start losing three wickets for 42runs. However, opener Shikkhar Dhawan (68) and Abhishek Nag (21)initiated a recovery process by adding 70 runs for the fourth wicket.Both fell in quick succession and this put Delhi again on thebackfoot. Dhawan was fifth out at 114. He hit 14 fours. Avinash Yadav,who dismissed Dhawan then had the wickets of Sumit Kapoor and AbhinavBali at the same total. From 112 for three, Delhi slid sharply to 114for seven. Kuldeep Rawat (23) and Abhishek Sharma (14 not out) added24 runs for the eighth wicket before the innings came to an end.Avinash Yadav was the most successful bowler with four for 33 off 11.5overs. But Vishal Francis also caught the eye with the ratherremarkable figures of 20-11-18-2.When UP batted, they were rocked by the third ball dismissal of RaviKant Shukla who was caught by Shikhar Dhawan off Kuldeep Rawat. Theother opener Shiva Kant Shukla also did not trouble the scorers verymuch and was leg before to Sumit Kapoor for four off 46 balls. ThenTaheer Abbas, who was shaping well retired hurt at 37 for two in the25th over. He had hit five fours in his 28. At close Aris Alam (8) andRahat Ilahi (1) were at the crease.