Delhi crawl to 99/1 against Odisha on Day I

Table-toppers Delhi crawled to 99 for one against Odisha on a day when only 48.2 overs were possible with bad light curtailing play in the Group A Ranji Trophy cricket encounter here on Friday. Put into bat, Delhi openers, Dhruv Shorey (42) and Gautam Gambhir (35 not out) managed a 74-run stand to give the hosts a firm but slow start.

The Delhi innings has seen a run-rate of 2.05 so far with some disciplined bowling from the Odisha bowlers. Pace spearhead Basant Mohanty cleaned up Shorey in the 40th over, but new man Nitish Rana (15 not out) and bad light made sure that the visitors have no more casualties. Gambhir has been very cautious in his 148-ball stay so far, his innings laced with three boundaries. Earlier Shorey struck seven fours in his 114-ball innings. Delhi, who conceded three points to Bengal in their previous encounter at Feroz Shah Kotla, will be looking for their third outright win in their fifth game this season, while the Biplab Samantaray-led side, which is placed sixth in the group table, is looking for a better showing.