By IANS,
New Delhi : Ranji Trophy winners Delhi suffered the fury of rain gods as despite having a huge lead, Pakistan’s Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL) won the Mohammad Nissar Trophy on the basis of their first innings lead after the final day’s play was called off due to a waterlogged outfield here Thursday.
SNGPL, led by Mohammed Hafeez, thus became the first Pakistani team to win the title which is an annual fixture between the domestic champions of the two countries.
Delhi were left to rue their luck as they led by a huge 384 runs when heavy downpour forced an early stop of play with 17 overs remaining on the third day Wednesday at the Feroze Shah Kotla stadium.
But looking back, Delhi’s poor batting in the first innings where they had crumbled to 134 runs on the opening day came back to haunt them. Captain Virender Sehwag’s decision to bat under an overcast sky cost them dear as fast bowler Imran Ali wrecked the home team’s strong batting line-up with a six wicket haul that included a hat-trick.
Nothwithstanding the first innings batting debacle, Delhi came back hard and bowled out SNGPL for 266 before Virat Kohli (197) and Akash Chopra (182) powered them to a strong position in the second innings.
SNGPL’s first innings lead of 132 proved decisive in the end in determining the fate of the game.
The home team completely dominated the second innings with Chopra and Kohli adding 385 runs for the second wicket and took Delhi to a massive 516 for four when the rains robbed a crucial last hour’s play Wednesday even as Delhi made the mistake of not declaring.
Their efforts proved futile as the trophy will now cross the border for the first time since the inception of the tournament in 2006. Mumbai and Uttar Pradesh were the champions in the last two editions.