Badoni’s double century helps Delhi secure lead in draw against Jharkhand

Ayush Badoni's double century leads Delhi to first-innings lead.

Two sixes by Ayush Badoni in the space of four balls brought an early end to proceedings on the final day as Delhi overhauled Jharkhand’s total of 382 to claim the first-innings lead in a drawn Group-D Ranji Trophy clash at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Saturday.

With the first of these sixes, off left-arm spinner Manishi over long-off, the 24-year-old helped Delhi reach parity with the visitor’s first-innings effort. And then with a six down the ground against the same bowler, Badoni brought up his maiden First Class double century while enabling his team to take three points from the fifth-round fixture in comparison to Jharkhand’s one.

As soon as the ball sailed over the boundary, half-an-hour before the scheduled tea interval, the two teams decided to shake hands.

Jharkhand, led by Virat Singh, will view it as an opportunity lost given that the host was reeling at 158 for five at one stage on Friday, but Badoni, with a bit of help from Sumit Mathur and Shivam Sharma, was able to eventually take it to 388 for seven declared. Badoni’s unbeaten 205, off 216 balls, is his highest score in First Class cricket, eclipsing his 191 against Hyderabad in 2023.

Having dominated against the spinners on the third day, Badoni, resuming on 116, continued in the same vein when play began an hour late due to bad light on Saturday. The newly-appointed skipper peppered the arc from long off to square leg for his big hits, using his feet to go down the ground or slog sweeping square on the leg side depending on the length. When a rank short ball came along, Badoni pulled over deep square leg with nonchalance.

With 14 points after five matches, Delhi continues to be in fourth position in Group D. Jharkhand, which has eight points, has slipped to seventh. The top two spots in this group currently belong to Chandigarh and Tamil Nadu.

The scores: