GUWAHATI, Nov 14 - High flying Assam will lock horns with former champions Delhi in their Group A Ranji Trophy match at the Barsapara cricket stadium here from tomorrow.
Delhi, led by Test discard Gautam Gambhir, are at the top of the nine-team table with 24 points from six outings. They won three and drew three without any loss. Assam so far played five matches out of which they won two, lost two and drew one. Assam has 16 points in their kitty and are at the third spot.
Assam captain Gokul Sharma hopeful of good show and determined to continue the same form as they showed against Haryana in the last match.
Gokul said, as they will play on a home ground they will definitely have advantage. He, however, said that Delhi has a better batting line-up and his bowlers have to be cautious. He preferred two pacers for the match as they had against Rajasthan.
The Assam captain believes that the moisture will help the pacers in the morning and if they win the toss definitely go for bowling first.
On the batting line-up, Gokul said they would like to keep the same batting order as all the players are fit and fine. On Tarjinder�s form he said, the middle order batsman will be soon among runs as luck is eluding him in last few innings.
Delhi coach Vijay Dahia said, Assam is a good team but now they will be in pressure as they have to face the table leaders. The Delhi team is in a sound form and will play their normal game. Dahia expected a good match as the wicket seems to be a sporting one.
Assam in Ranji Trophy against Delhi:
Assam has played only one Ranji Trophy match against Delhi. The only Ranji Trophy match against Delhi was played from December 1 to 4, 2010 at the Roshanara Club Ground, Delhi. Assam won the toss and elected to field first.
Brief Scores: Delhi 1st Innings 472 all out in 127.4 overs (Mithun Minhas 124, U Chand 59, AN Ahmed 3/105, Ranjit Mali 3/129, Dhiraj Goswami 3/98).
Assam 1st innings 239/all out in 74 overs (Dhiraj Jadhav 69).
Assam 2nd innings (following on) 291 all out in 97 overs (Dhiraj Jadhav 122, S Sriram 59, Gokul Sharma 56).
Delhi 2nd innings 61/3 in 15.3 overs. (U Chand 37, Mali 2/16). Delhi won by seven wickets.
Compiled by: Tapash Roy, BCCI Statistician cum Scorer.
