Delhi have defeated Railways inside three days by an innings and 19 runs at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in the national capital. This turned out to be a landmark game in Ranji Trophy with Virat Kohli playing the tournament for the first time in 12 years. Fans flocked to the venue on the opening two days only to see him get out for just six runs off 15 balls But his presence had a positive impact on the Delhi team as they won the match to end the season on a high.
It was a spirited effort with the ball from the hosts on the third day as they skittled the opposition in just 30.5 overs with Shivam Sharma picking up a five-wicket haul. Only two of Railways' batters crossed the 20-run mark - Mohammad Saif and Ayan Chaudhari scoring 31 and 30* respectively. Delhi's bowlers were on point right from the word go in the second innings after many thought they let Railways score too many in the first innings after reducing them to 66/5.
But in the second innings, they didn't leave any stone unturned as the fast bowlers kept a lid on the batters before Shivam Sharma cleaned them up with his spin returning with magical figures of 5/33 in 11 overs. Interestingly, skipper Ayush Badoni picked up a wicket to claim the victory even as the fans' hopes of Kohli coming out to bat ended with it.
While all the focus was on Kohli right from the start of the match, Ayush Badoni starred in the first innings to score 99 runs. Sumit Mathur also displayed an all-round show scoring 86 runs and picking up three wickets in the game.