Captain badoni

Arun Jaitley Stadium: The crowd at Arun Jaitley Stadium on the second day was awaiting a Virat Kohli special, but they were treated to fantastic fifties by Delhi captain Ayush Badoni and all-rounder Sumit Mathur as the hosts took a 93-run lead after reaching 334/7 in 96 overs at stumps on Saturday.

On a day Kohli made just six in his return to the first-class competition after more than 12 years, Badoni treated the crowd to a superb show of batsmanship by making 99, laced with 12 fours and three towering sixes off coming just 77 balls. He also became the fourth batter of the ongoing round to be out in the 90s after Upendra Yadav, Cheteshwar Pujara, and Ajinkya Rahane. On the other hand, Mathur was solid in staying at the crease for long while hitting seven fours to be unbeaten on 78 off 189 balls. The duo was also involved in a 133-run stand for the fifth wicket to bail Delhi out of trouble on a pitch that had started to show signs of variable bounce.

Day Two’s play began with Delhi surging ahead quickly, as Railways bowlers’ were not at their consistent best in their lines and lengths in the first 50 minutes. Though the bowlers drew some edges and were involved in some lbw shots, there were no rewards for them as Yash Dhull got three fours off Himanshu Sangwan. On the other hand, Sanat Sangwan, despite being edgy, got a couple of boundaries under his kitty, as he raised the fifty of his partnership with Dhull. But in the 24th over, was trapped lbw on 32 by Rahul Sharma, and it brought Kohli to the crease, with the crowd giving him a rousing reception.