Saini strikes twice as Delhi reduce Services to 44 for four before Paliwal steadies them

Navdeep Saini made the most of an early chance at Palam on Monday, taking two wickets for 15 runs as Delhi had Services in trouble on the first day of their Ranji Trophy round four match, before captain Rajat Paliwal led a recovery.

Services won the toss and chose to bat at the Airforce Complex Ground. It went wrong straight away. Saini had opener Shubham Rohilla caught by Yash Dhull off the second ball of the match, and later removed Ravi Chauhan, caught by Anuj Rawat for 7.

Off-spinner Hrithik Shokeen then had Vineet Dhankhar caught by Ayush Badoni for 4, and Aman Chaudhary ended Nitin Tanwar’s patient 55-ball 22. That left Services at 44 for four in the 18th over, with the scoring rate barely above two an over.

Paliwal and Mohit Ahlawat dug in from there. By the 30th over the captain had made 31 off 57 balls and Ahlawat 20 off 35, including a six, and the pair had taken the score to 92 without further loss.

They kept going into the afternoon, and Services were 112 for four after 35 overs, the fifth-wicket stand worth 68.

Saini was the pick of the Delhi attack with figures of 7-1-15-2, while Chaudhary went for 25 in eight overs. Delhi used six bowlers in all, with Badoni the most expensive at 16 runs from three overs.

For Delhi, the task after the break is to separate a settled pair before Services can push towards a competitive total. Behind them, Services still have wicketkeeper Nakul Sharma, Jayant Goyat, Pulkit Narang, Arjun Sharma and Virender Dagar to bat.