A below par batting was on display from Odisha at the Ferozshah Kotla on Day Three as they lost nineteen wickets in just three sessions and lost to Delhi by an innings and 150 runs.

Odisha started the day at 25/1 and it was left to Manan Sharma to inflict pain. He picked up a match haul of eight wickets and his maiden five-wicket haul (2/9 & 6/24) on a wicket that had started to show signs of wear and tear. This was Delhi’s fourth win and they now remain on top of Group B with 30 points.

It was Navdeep Saini, replacing Vikas Tokas from the pavilion end, who triggered the Odisha collapse. In a space of 10 overs he picked up three wickets to reduce the visitors to 72/5. Had Saini not gotten injured soon after, skipper Gautam Gambhir would have stuck with his pacer and Manan could have been just a fielder. But one’s misfortune is the other’s opportunity and in Saini’s absence, it fell to Manan to give company to Varun Sood, who by then had settled nicely into the job that Saini had been doing, picking the sixth Odisha wicket on 76.

With the Kotla track breaking up, there was plenty of turn on offer and Manan soon got into the act of making life difficult for Odisha’s tailenders.

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