Shorey’s eighth first-class ton leads Delhi’s recovery

Guwahati: Opener Dhruv Shorey struck his eighth first-class hundred to steer Delhi to 271 for seven on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Group B fixture against hosts Assam at Barsapara Cricket Stadium here on Tuesday.
Assam removed Shorey’s partner Anuj Rawat early after opting to field first. But Shorey put onan impressive show and remained unbeaten on 139 off 216 balls before bad light forced an early stumps with 81 overs bowled on the day.
Delhi’s young captain Yash Dhull made 22 off 56 balls while Vaibhav Rawal came up with a valuable 43 off 71 balls. Senior batter Nitish Rana was however out first ball.
Delhi, who lost their tournament opener to Maharashtra, fielded a depleted unit in the absence of injured pacers Ishant Sharma and Mayank Yadav. They were forced to field three debutants in Harshit Rana, Pranshu Vijayran and spinner Hrithik Shokeen.
Senior pacer Navdeep Saini, who suffered an abdominal muscle strain while being part of the Indian team in Bangladesh, is unlikely to be fit in time for Delhi's next game.
For the hosts, the bowlers put on an impressive show as the trio of Mrinmoy Dutta, Akash Sengupta and Sidharth Sarmah got two wickets each. Mukhtar Hussain got another as the bowlers made sure Delhi were unable to score freely. Riyan Parag also put in a few overs but he was unable to get a breakthrough.
Surya shines:
Suryakumar Yadav made an 80-ball 90 in his first Ranji Trophy game in almost three years while skipper Ajinkya Rahane and Yashasvi Jaiswal struck fine hundreds to take Mumbai to 457 for three against Hyderabad on day one of the Group B contest I Mumbai. agencies