Ranji Trophy: Ishant Sharma bowls only 9 overs as Delhi on brink of elimination, Tamil Nadu dominate Chattisgarh

Ranji Trophy 2022: With lack of spite from Ishant Sharma, Delhi struggled to contain Jharkhand batters on Day 3 of their Group H match. Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu continued to dominate Chattisgarh and are looking set to progress to the next round.

Delhi are on the back foot in their Ranji Trophy Group H match against Jharkhand and are on the brink of elimination from the premier domestic tournament. Jharkhand ended Day 3 of the match at the ACA Stadium in Guwahati with a lead of 315 runs, finishing with 288 for 5.

Hundreds from Nazim Siddiqui and Kumar Suraj in the 2nd innings has helped Jharkhand take control of the match after they sealed a first-innings lead against Delhi.

If Delhi end with another one point, they would only survive in theory as even a seven-point game (bonus) against Chattisgarh won't allow them to surpass Tamil Nadu, according to the Press Trust of India. Each team in Group H will play 3 matches and Delhi will face Chattisgarh in their next match after drawing their tournament opener against Tamil Nadu. Delhi conceded a first-innings lead against TN as well.

All eyes were on Ishant Sharma as the senior India pacer, who was dropped from the squad for the 2-Test series against Sri Lanka next month, returned to play Ranji Trophy after missing the opening match against Tamil Nadu.

Despite getting the wicket of Utkarsh Singh in his first spell, Ishant bowled only 9 overs on Day 4 in Jharkhand's 2nd innings. The senior man had only bowled 4 overs in the first innings as Jharkhand made 251 following which Delhi managed just 224.

Ishant bowled two more short spells but never looked in rhythm and, in fact, during his final spell, lost a bit of cool as Suraj treated him with disdain.

In the morning, Jonty Sidhu (79) was the fifth victim of left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem when he tried to give him the charge as Delhi were all out for 224, giving Jharkhand an important 27-run lead.