Himmat, Bhati star in Delhi's five-wicket win

Youngster Himmat Singh struck a half century under pressure after medium pacer Subodh Bhati's five for 24, as Delhi beat Saurashtra by five wickets in the opening group B encounter of Vijay Hazare Trophy Thursday.

Gautam Gambhir also started his newest captaincy stint with a stroke-filled 62 off 48 balls as Delhi chased a target of 238 in 46 overs.

Himmat (74 off 93 balls) and Lalit Yadav (36 off 54 balls) came together at 152 for five and batted sensibly to take the home team past the target.

Himmat hit five fours and two sixes, including one into the second tier, off Kamlesh Makwana.

It was skipper Gambhir, who started on a positive note and gave his team the required momentum, even as Unmukt Chand and Rishabh Pant were dismissed cheaply.

In all, he hit 10 boundaries before being adjudged leg before off Makwana and there was a mini collapse before Himmat took the team to victory.

In the morning when Saurashtra batted, they slumped from 222 for four to 237 all out, losing six wickets for 15 runs in four overs.

It was Bhati, who was inexplicably kept out of the original 15, came back at the last moment and used his variations to good effect.

His slower deliveries were difficult to handle.

For Saurashtra, Cheteshwar Pujara scored a painstaking 53 off 89 while Sheldon Jackson struck 62 off 78 balls.

In the other Group B matches of the day, Chhattisgarh beat Madhya Pradesh by 122 runs, while Andhra defeated Odisha by six wickets.

GROUP B
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