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Kapil Yadav and Pradeep Sangwan Delhi's medium pacers traveled together to the Feroze Shah Kotla from Najafgarh. The two are good friends and neighbours. On the morning of the game against Gujarat it was a toss up between these two for a place in the playing XI.
Sangwan played. He picked up three wickets as Delhi bowled out Gujarat for just 71 on an overcast morning. Pawan Suyal scalped four, while Sumit Narwal picked up three in a beautiful spell of medium-pace bowling by the hosts.
For Sangwan, being among the wickets was crucial. By picking up three he managed to stay in the reckoning in a Delhi pace bowling line-up which is highly competitive in the fight for places in the final XI. Three seasons ago there wasn't a great deal to chose between Ishant Sharma and Sangwan. But while Sharma has made a name for himself at the international level, Sangwan's game stagnated.
He was dropped for the first time from the Delhi Ranji Trophy squad for the last round game against Chennai. It hurt the left-arm paceman.
After being picked for the game against Gujarat, Sangwan didn't disappoint. He bowled an impeccable line and length and moved the ball much to the discomfort of the batsmen; an ability that he lost mastery over in the past year or so.
Delhi, in reply, were 39 without loss in nine overs, with Shikhar Dhawan on 24 and debutant Unmukt Chand on 15, when bad light and incessant rain stopped play.
Gujarat's decision to bat first backfired when their batsmen were not up to the task. Delhi's medium-pace troika made life difficult for them. Suyal was the first to strike with his second delivery in the second over of the match when he trapped Jay Desai leg-before-wicket, while Narwal induced the outside edge from opener Priyank Panchal.
Sangwan removed skipper Parthiv Patel; caught behind while Niraj Patel, who top-scored with 21, played on to the stumps off Sangwan. Bhavik Thakker was leg-before-wicket to Sangwan. The left-arm pacer finished with three wickets and gave away 16 runs in his seven-over spell.
Skipper Mithun Manhas used his three seamers in short bursts. After a change of ends, Suyal and Narwal polished off the tail in their second spells.
Atkinson at Kotla
International Cricket Council's pitch consultant Andy Atkinson, it is learnt found the wicket to his liking on Day One of the match between Delhi and Gujarat. Atkinson will be in Delhi for another three days and will inspect the wickets at Palam and Harbaksh Ground.
Brief scores: Gujarat 71 all out in 23.4 overs (Niraj Patel 21; Pawan Suyal 4/27, Pradeep Sangwan 3/16, Sumit Narwal 3/23) vs Delhi 39 for no loss (Shikhar Dhawan batting 24, Unmukt Chand batting 15)
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