Guwahati, Feb 19 (PTI) Lalit Yadav hammered 10 sixes enroute to his maiden first-class hundred and batted brilliantly with the tail to put Delhi in a strong position against Tamil Nadu after day two of the Ranji Trophy Group H here on Friday.
Resuming the day at 291 for seven, Delhi ended up getting an imposing first innings score of 452 all out courtesy Yadav’s 177 off 287 balls.
Delhi also got two crucial wickets before stumps, leaving Tamil Nadu at 75 for two and trailing by 377 runs.
If the opening day belonged to India U-19 star Yash Dhull, Friday was all about Yadav who batted fearlessly in his entertaining innings. Besides 10 sixes, he smashed 17 fours.
His knock was not all about brutal hitting. The 25-year-old shielded the tail including Simarjeet Singh (19 off 57), Vikash Mishra (7 off 58) and Kuldip Yadav (9 not out off 37) to ensure Delhi score beyond 450.
Yadav, who is rated highly by Delhi Capitals coach Ricky Ponting, carried his impressive white-ball form in domestic cricket to play the best innings of his 12-match old first-class career.
His collected boundaries all around the wicket and reached his half-century with a flat six over mid wicket off pacer M Mohammed before getting to three figures with consecutive straight sixes off spinner R Sai Kishore. He even got to his 150 with a boundary. His memorable innings ended when he edged an attempted drive to first slip off Sai Kishore and what followed was a standing ovation from his teammates.
Tamil Nadu openers Kaushik Gandhi (37 batting) and Laxmesha Suryaprakash (23) shared a 50-run stand before the latter was dismissed by Kuldip. Vikas Mishra removing Baba Aparajith (0) made it 56 for two.
Brief Scores: Delhi 452 all out in 141.2 overs (Yash Dhull 113, Jonty Sidhu 71, Lalit Yadav 177; Mohammd Mohammed 4/75) vs Tamil Nadu 75/2 in 30 overs. PTI BS AT AT
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