Wickets galore at the Kotla

Delhi 78 (Khatua 3-17, B Mohanty 3-25, D Mohanty 3-26) and 38 for 4 (Sehwag 27*, Khatua 2-10) lead Orissa 80 (Ishant 7-24, Awana 2-1) by 36 runs
Scorecard

The trip to the Feroz Shah Kotla would have been worth it for every bowler who has toiled for years on the Indian domestic cricket. The pampered batsmen were left out on the street and they couldn't fend for themselves. On a lovely wintry day in Delhi, a wicket fell less than every three overs on average on a pitch that assisted swing and seam movement. Six batsmen succumbed to away movement and edged to the wicketkeeper, 12 were bowled by straighter ones and incoming deliveries, the top score of the day was only 32, and six Delhi batsmen walked out for the second time on the same day.

It was easy to forget the state of the match amid the flurry of wickets. The defending champions, Delhi, were dismissed for 78 in the first session. Orissa's medium-pace success stories, the Mohantys - Debasis and Basanth - took three wickets each, and were supported by three from Sukanta Khatua. Orissa then withered against the fury of Ishant Sharma, who took seven wickets in 8.3 overs to restrict the lead to two runs. By stumps, Delhi had stumbled to a lead of 36, losing a wicket each to the Mohantys and two to Khatua.

Delhi were desperate for an outright victory to bring their title defence back on track but, by preparing a green top, they had taken a gamble against bowlers who relish these conditions. After they lost the toss, the strategy threatened to back fire in a manner similar to Australia's victory in Kolkata on a pitch tailored for India's spinners.

Debasis struck in the first over, trapping Gambhir lbw with an outswinger, and before Delhi had recovered, Aakash Chopra attempted an uncharacteristic booming drive off Basanth and played on to his stumps. A moment of inspirational fielding helped dismiss Delhi's big three within the first hour of the match. Virender Sehwag called for a second run, after a fumble at sweeper-cover, but was yards short when Dhiraj Singh hit the only stump visible to him.

Delhi's predicament - 39 for 3 - got worse after Basanth struck twice in two overs. Virat Kohli tickled one down the leg side while Mithun Manhas got a nasty delivery which kicked and moved away from a length.Three overs later Khatua also struck twice to remove Rajat Bhatia and Puneet Bisht, the last batsmen capable of resistance. The tail didn't last long, Sumit Narhwal and Parvinder Awana holed out to mid-off and mid-on, and Orissa were batting shortly before lunch.

Ishant Sharma gave them a reality check before the interval with an outstanding delivery. He bowled an offcutter that sent Shiv Sunder Das' off stump cartwheeling. In his first over after lunch, Ishant bowled a straighter one that took Niranjan Behera's edge. In his recent book, Ricky Ponting talked of Ishant's deadly offcutter, which made his straighter one seem like a legcutter. That illusion was evident and his pace had the Orissa batsmen playing even the full-length deliveries off the back foot.

Bikas Pati, Orissa's opening batsman, took advantage of some ineffective bowling from Pradeep Sangwan, hitting three boundaries in an over, but Ishant struck once again at the other end, bowling Subit Biswal through the bat-pad gap. The bail flew to short third man, just missing Aakash Chopra at slip. Pati continued to score freely but was the first wicket in Ishant's next double-strike. Pinninti Jayachandra, who was bowled shouldering arms, was Ishant's fifth wicket but visions of a perfect ten faded when Sehwag gave him a break after eight overs.

Halhadar Das and Pravanjan Mullick found Delhi's back-up fast bowlers easier to face and took the total from 61 to 80 for 5, two runs past the hosts' total. However, that was as far as Orissa got for they lost their last five wickets for no runs. Parvinder Awana bowled a lovely line outside off and kept getting away movement which brought him Halhadar's wicket two overs before tea.

After tea, the bowlers competed to send the stumps cartwheeling and Ishant won, knocking over the wickets twice, compared to Awana's one. None of Orissa's batsmen would have faced pace like Ishant's and it showed in their effort. Ishant will be on a hat-trick when Orissa start their second innings.

There was more shock to follow though. After facing only one delivery, Gambhir walked down the pitch to Debasis, got too far across, and lost his leg stump to complete a pair. Basanth got into the act soon, forcing a leading edge from Chopra, who closed the face of the bat too early. Towards the end of the day, Kohli shouldered arms to Khatua and was bowled and in the same over, Manhas played across to a straight delivery, leaving Delhi on 36 for 4. Their only hope was the presence of Sehwag, who hit four fours and a six in his 27. The way the two teams have batted so far, the Sehwag way seemed the only way to bat.