Dagar, Dalal star as Delhi beat Sikkim by 9 wickets

Leg-spinner Karan Dagar starred with the ball before opener Hiten Dalal scored a blistering half-century as Delhi registered an emphatic nine-wicket win over Sikkim in a Syed Mushtaq Ali encounter here on Sunday.

Dagar (4/12) and medium pacer Simarjeet Singh (2/17) restricted Sikkim to a paltry 88 for seven in the stipulated 20 overs before Dalal played an unbeaten innings of 54 off 24 balls to take Delhi home with 11 overs to spare.

The win helped Delhi move to the second spot in Group E with 18 points from seven games, while Jharkhand were atop the standings with 22 points from as seven matches.

Opting to bat, Sikkim were off to a disastrous start with Simarjeet dismissing openers Bibek Diyali and Yashpal Singh in the first over itself.

Wicketkeeper Ashish Thapa (17) and skipper Iqbal Abdulla (37), who top-scored, tried to resurrect the innings by stitching a 45-run partnership but Dagar bowled out the captain in the beginning of the 11th over.

Dagar then tore through the middle order, dismissing Plazor Tamang (0), Benoy Upreti (1) and Thapa in the next four overs.

In reply, Delhi reached the target in nine overs. India opener Shikhar Dhawan, who is struggling for form, fell in the sixth over for 19.

However, fellow opener Dalal and wicketkeeper Anuj Rawat (14 not out) helped their team reach the target without much trouble.

Dalal cracked six boundaries and four maximums in his innings while Rawat hit a four and a six each.

In another group E encounter, Utkarsh Singh (42) and Virat Singh (56) guided Jharkhand to a nine-wicket win over Gujarat.

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