Delhi’s Yash Dhull, battling cramps and dirt-stained flannels, fought valiantly on day three of the Ranji Trophy clash against Tamil Nadu. With minutes remaining before the close of play, Dhull launched a six off Tamil Nadu seamer M. Mohammed, notching up his sixth First Class century.
Dhull’s unbeaten 103 took Delhi to 264 for 8 at stumps, but the home side still faces a daunting deficit of 410 runs against Tamil Nadu’s mammoth 674 for six declared. Top-order batter Dhruv Kaushik is unlikely to bat after suffering a blow to his right thumb while fielding, leaving Dhull and Pranshu Vijayran, who is also nursing a side strain, as Delhi’s last batting pair.
Tamil Nadu’s bowlers flexed their muscle on day three, with Gurjapneet Singh, M. Mohammed, and Washington Sundar claiming two wickets apiece. Sonu Yadav and S. Ajith Ram also contributed with one scalp each. The bowlers inflicted most of the damage during the opening session.
Despite Gurjapneet’s probing lengths, openers Sanat Sangwan and Harsh Tyagi managed to negotiate the first hour of play. However, Washington’s off-spin yielded the opening breakthrough, leading to a cluster of wickets as Delhi slumped from 74 for one to 103 for five at the lunch interval.
Dhull and Pranav Rajvanshi showed resilience, adding 75 runs for the sixth wicket in a wicketless second session. But in the very first over after tea, Rajvanshi was snaffled by Andre Siddarth at short leg off Washington, leaving Delhi’s hopes of a fightback entirely on Dhull’s shoulders.
