Puducherry have inflicted an upset on seven-time Ranji Trophy champions Delhi as they make a stunning start to their Ranji Trophy season at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. Fabid Ahmed's Puducherry defeated the Yash Dhull-led Delhi by 9 wickets in the Group D clash as the hosts had no answers for the visitors.
The win was well set by newcomer pace bowler Gaurav Yadav, who took a combined ten-wicket haul in the match. Gaurav's seven-wicket haul saw a star-studded Delhi folding for 148 with number 8 all-rounder top-scoring with 34. In reply, the visitors scored 244 runs and took a healthy 94-run lead before bowling the hosts out for 145. Puducherry had to chase only 51 and they did so with not much loss on the 4th Day of the match.
New-comer pacer wreaks havoc
Gaurav Yadav joined Puducherry after moving from Madhya Pradesh before the ongoing Ranji Trophy season. He helped Madhya Pradesh in their Ranji Trophy final victory in 2022 before switching to his domestic side. Gaurav tore apart Delhi with his fiery bowling. He removed captain Yash Dhull, Vaibhav Rawal, Kshitiz Sharma, Hrithik Shokeen, Harsh Tyagi, Ishant Sharma and Himanshu Chauhan in the first innings.
Gaurav returned back to take five more wickets but this time all in the lower order. Abin Mathew took a fifer in the second innings to help Puducherry fold Delhi for just 145, three runs lower than what they got in the first innings.
The win sees them take six points and first spot in Group D, also featuring Baroda, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Uttarakhand along with these two sides. Puducherry's next game is against Baroda from January 2 onwards at the Moti Bagh Stadium, Vadodara.
