Shafiq Khan stars for Haryana

Shafiq Khan hit a fine 86, and his participation in a 71-run fifthwicket partnership enabled Haryana to score 282 for eight against Delhi on the opening day of their North Zone Ranji Trophy league match against Delhi.

Delhi skipper Mithun Manhas' decision to field after winning the toss did not yield the desired results as Haryana openers Padamjit Sehrawat and Chetan Sharma gave their side a sound start, putting up 54 runs for the first wicket. However, the visitors lost three wickets in space of 22 runs. Shehrawat scored 47 before being trapped legbefore by Amit Bhandari; Sharma, the first batsman to go, contributed 20. Skipper Parinder Sharma could score only eight, caught by Akash Chopra off Bhandari.

At lunch, Haryana were 105/3 off 29 overs; between lunch and tea, they scored only 79 runs, losing one more wicket. The post-tea session saw the visitors add 98 runs to their total, losing four more wickets. A 42-run fourth-wicket stand between Ishan Ganda (26) and Shafiq Khan established Haryana's innings; after the departure of Ganda, Ajay Ratra gave able support to Shafiq and both batsmen built up the innings by adding 71 runs for the fifth wicket.

The stand was finally broken by off-spinner Sarandeep Singh, who had Ratra (31) caught by Sohail Rauf. Haryana's score at that stage was 192 for five; they added 90 more runs for the loss of three wickets before stumps. Shafiq was the last batsman to be dismissed, sent back leg-before by Abhishek Sharma. His 86 was studded with two sixes and eight fours, and he batted 241 minutes, facing 181 balls in the process.

At stumps, Sumit Narwal ( 25) and Gaurav Vashist (0) were at the crease. Bhandari and Sarandeep had picked up two wickets each.