Vijay Hazare Trophy: Delhi beat Gujarat by 7 runs as Kohli, Pant shine

Bengaluru: Virat Kohli’s genius, Rishabh Pant’s discovery of form and a collective bowling effort orchestrated Delhi’s nervy seven-run win over Gujarat in their second Vijay Hazare Trophy Elite Group D fixture at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence here on Friday. 

The value of Kohli (77, 61b, 13x4, 1x6) and Pant’s (70, 79b, 8x4, 2x6) innings were evident during Gujarat’s chase, which disintegrated after Aarya Desai (55, 77b, 8x4, 2x6) and Saurav Chauhan’s (49, 43b, 5x4, 2x6) contributions. They were shot out in 47.4 overs. 

With Prince Yadav’s (3/37) triple strikes, along with two-wicket effort from Ishant Sharma (2/28) and Arpit Rana (2/39), Delhi picked up wickets at regular intervals, especially when Gujarat threatened to cross the line. 

Earlier in the day, the 37-year-old Kohli, who usually loves a good run chase, was in pursuit of perfection in his potential last domestic List A game of the season. And for 60 balls in his 81-minute stay, he seemed to have attained what he wanted.

Unlike the first game, where he was handed two lifelines, Kohli engineered a chanceless knock on a day when batting from both sides veered from ordinary to sublime. 

Starting with a couple of lofted shots straight down the ground, Kohli pressed into rhythm, thwarting Chintan Gaja for a four and a six to kickstart the onslaught. 

On a surface that had some bite for the quicks, Arzan Nagwaswalla extracted bounce and also beat Kohli on the outside edge. In response, he played a cracking cut shot that flew to the fence. 

Kohli, then, brought out a trademark cover drive and followed it up with a beautiful on-drive, finding boundaries at ease. 

Measured way

The former India skipper continued to bat in his own measured way and raced to his 85th List A fifty in 29 balls, smashing 10 fours and a six. 

Once the spinners were introduced, he looked to throw them off their lengths, attempting to play shots behind and square of the wicket. Eventually, the concentration dipped and Kohli was stumped in a flash by Urvil Patel off Vishal B Jayswal (4/42). 

On the other hand, Pant, who was struggling for form, finally found his touch. The 28-year-old wicketkeeper walked to the middle with Delhi in a precarious 98/3 and refrained from hitting his way out of pressure, batting at a strike rate of under 65 in his first 20 balls. 

Once he grew in confidence, Pant upped the ante with shots all over the park and got to his 12th List A fifty in 64 balls, dispatching Ravi Bishnoi (2/50) for a six over long-on.

Kohli was also awarded the player of the match for his match-defining 77 and two catches. 

Group D: Delhi: 254/9 in 50 overs (Virat Kohli 77, Rishabh Pant 70, Harsh Tyagi 40; Ravi Bishnoi 2-50, Vishal B Jayswal 4-42) bt Gujarat: 247 all out in 47.4 overs (Aarya Desai 57, Urvil Patel 31, Abhishek Desai 26, Saurabh Chauhan 49, Vishal B Jayswal 26; Prince Yadav 3-37, Ishant Sharma 2-28, Arpit Rana 2-39).