Skipper Ajay Jadeja scored a fluent century to put Delhi in command on the second day of the Ranji Trophy Elite group match against Andhra in Delhi on Wednesday.
Jadeja (103 not out) brought up his century with a brilliant cover drive off K S Shahabuddin before declaring the innings on 491 for 9 at the stroke of tea.
But the hosts' plan to snare some quick wickets was shelved by fading light as the umpires stopped play after just 4.4 overs were bowled in the Andhra innings.
Amit Pathak was batting on two while LNP Reddy was not out on one when stumps were drawn.
It was Jadeja at his best at the Roshanara cricket ground as the former international toyed with the Andhra attack, hitting 15 fours in his 170-ball knock.
He built important partnerships with N S Negi (49) and Sarandeep Singh (19) after the hosts looked like losing their way at lunch losing four wickets for 100 runs in the opening session.
There was a sense of urgency in the approach of the Delhi batsman after a crawl to 258 for 2 yesterday as they scored at a rate of almost four runs per over after overcoming a disastrous start which saw both their overnight batsmen -- Akash Chopra (78) and Mithun Manhas (95) -- being dismissed within the first two overs.
Chopra was the first to go as he was trapped leg before wicket by Shahabuddin off the second ball itself. The pressure increased on the hosts further when Kalyankrishna clean bowled Manhas in the next over.
RVCH Prasad and Kalyankrishna finished with three wickets each while Shahabuddin chipped in with two.
Scoreboard
Delhi (1st innings): (overnight score: 258-2)
A Chopra lbw Sahabuddin 78
S Dhawan c MSK Prasad b Kalyankrishna 49
V Dahiya lbw Sahabuddin 33
M Manhas b Kalyankrishna 95
R Bhatia lbw b Kalyankrishna 21
A Jadeja not out 103
A Bali c Faiq b Suresh 26
N Negi c MSK Prasad b C Prasad 49
Sarandeep Singh c Gnaneswara Rao b C Prasad 19
Kunal Lal lbw C Prasad 1
S Gill not out 0
Extras: (b 2, lb 5, w 9, nb 1) 17
Total: (for 9 wickets decl. in 148.3 overs) 491
Fall of wickets: 56-1, 116-2, 258-3, 262-4, 312-5, 358-6, 439-7, 476-8, 487-9,
Bowling: K Sahabuddin 34.3-9-95-2, D Kalyankrishna 26-9-101-3, A Praveen 19-5-53-0, C Prasad 33-3-117-3, M Faiq 12-3-31-0, M Suresh 18-1-60-1, A Varma 6-0-27-0.
Andhra (1st innings):
A S Pathak not out 2
P Reddy not out 1
Extras: (nb 2) 2
Total: (for no wicket in 4.4 overs) 5
To bat: M Suresh, C Prasad, K Sahabuddin, M Faiq, Y Gnaneswara Rao, D Kalyankrishna, MSK Prasad, A Varma, A Praveen.
Bowling: S Gill 2.4-1-3-0, Kunal Lal 2-0-2-0
