One-man army: Delhi’s slim hopes of a fightback lie on Dhull’s slender shoulders.
| Photo Credit: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR

With minutes to go for the close of play on day three, Delhi’s Yash Dhull, his white flannels smeared with dirt and battling cramps on his left forearm, launched Tamil Nadu seamer M. Mohammed down the ground for a six to notch up his sixth First Class century.

On another day of setbacks for Delhi in its Ranji Trophy clash against TN, this was much-needed solace for the home side as the N. Jagadeesan-led outfit closed in on taking the first-innings lead.

Dhull’s unbeaten 103 took Delhi to 264 for 8 at stumps, but in response to the visitor’s mammoth 674 for six declared, it is still staring at a deficit of 410 runs. With top-order batter Dhruv Kaushik unlikely to bat having copped a blow on his right thumb while fielding, Dhull and Pranshu Vijayran, also nursing a side strain, are practically Delhi’s last batting pair.

If Tamil Nadu’s batters made merry on the first two days, it was now the turn of the bowling unit to flex its muscle. Gurjapneet Singh, M. Mohammed and Washington Sundar claimed two wickets apiece while Sonu Yadav and S. Ajith Ram took a scalp each.

The bowlers inflicted most of the damage during the opening session. Though Gurjapneet hit probing lengths in his first spell that read 6-5-3-0, openers Sanat Sangwan and Harsh Tyagi, resuming with Delhi at 43 for none, managed to negotiate the first hour of play. But soon after, Washington’s off-spin yielded the opening breakthrough.

It led to a cluster of wickets as Delhi slumped from 74 for one to 103 for five at the lunch interval.

Despite the dire situation, Dhull and Pranav Rajvanshi did buckle down and add 75 runs for the sixth wicket in a wicketless second session. In the very first over after tea, though, Rajvanshi was snaffled by Andre Siddarth at short leg off Washington, leaving Delhi’s slim hopes of a fightback entirely on Dhull’s slender shoulders.

The scores: Tamil Nadu — 1st innings: 674 for six decl.

Delhi — 1st innings: Sanat Sangwan c Jagadeesan b Mohammed 36, Harsh Tyagi c Indrajith b Washington 35, Yash Dhull (batting) 103, Himmat Singh c Jagadeesan b Gurjapneet 0, Jonty Sidhu c Sonu Yadav b Mohammed 4, Mayank Rawat c Jagadeesan b Sonu Yadav 0, Pranav Rajvanshi c Siddarth b Washington 40, Navdeep Saini c Sai Sudharsan b Gurjapneet 26, Himanshu Chauhan lbw b Ajith Ram 4, Pranshu Vijayran (batting) 6; Extras (b-1, lb-8, nb-1): 10; Total (for eight wkts. in 97 overs): 264.

Fall of wickets: 1-74, 2-84, 3-99, 4-103, 5-103, 6-178, 7-237, 8-250.

Tamil Nadu bowling: Gurjapneet 23-9-48-2, Sonu Yadav 16-3-53-1, Mohammed 12-5-30-2, Pradosh 1-0-1-0, Washington 17-2-42-2, Ajith Ram 26-6-73-1, Shahrukh 2-0-8-0.