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Shivam Sharma claimed five wickets as Delhi ended their Ranji Trophy campaign with a bonus point over the Railways.
Resuming the day at 334 runs for seven wickets, Delhi ended up at 374 runs in the first essay to secure a 133-run lead. Railways` batsmen played rash shots that boosted the match to end early.
They were all out for 114 in 30.4 overs in the afternoon session to suffer an innings defeat, handing Delhi seven points. It also denied the crowd a chance to see batting icon Virat Kohli in action for a second time in this match.
For Delhi, Sumit Mathur (86), who was batting on 78 overnight, could not reach the three-figure mark as Kohli`s conqueror on day two, Himanshu Sangwan, ended with four wickets.
It was Delhi`s second win of the season but they were out of the knockout race from Elite Group D with Saurashtra and Tamil Nadu qualified with 25 points. Delhi logged 21 points.
The Ranji Trophy match between Delhi and Railways attracted national attention because of Virat Kohli`s return to domestic cricket. The spectators were eager to see Virat Kohli bat in the second innings as Railways batters self-destructed on a slow and low surface.
The former India captain himself would not have minded another hit in the middle after managing six off 15 balls on day two. It was a procession after Delhi left-arm pacer Siddhant Sharma trapped Suraj Ahuja with an inswinger.
His opening partner Vivek Singh (12) hit a crisp cover drive off Siddhant before an over-aggressive approach got the better of him as he stepped out to offie Shivam only to be caught at backward point.
A little later Mohammed Saif (31 off 31 balls) also charged down the wicket against Shivam but could not get past the mid-on fielder.
Sidhant removed Suraj Ahuja with an inswinger. Even Delhi were not expecting the game to end this early but the opposition batters had other plans.
Navdeep Saini castled Bhargav Merai to make it 57 for four before Railways` star batter in the first innings Upendra Yadav (19) perished off an incoming ball from Money Grewal.
The game was over when number 10 Kunal Yadav was dismissed by Delhi skipper Ayush Badoni as number 11 Anchit Yadav did not come out to bat.
Virat Kohli who returned to domestic cricket after 13 years, spent a long time in the dressing room with his teammates, shook hands and posed for pictures.
The stalwart also entered into Railways` dressing room to meet the opposition.
Saurashtra qualified for the knockouts with an innings and 144-run win over Assam in Rajkot.
Following on, Assam were bowled out for 166 in their second innings after managing 164 in their first essay. Saurashtra batted the opposition out of the game by scoring 474 in their first innings.
Resuming their second innings at 67/1, Assam could only bat for 36.4 overs with left-arm spinner Dharmendrasinh Jadeja taking a five wicket haul, lifting his match tally to nine.
Saurashtra ended with 25 points from seven games after their third bonus point win on the trot.
Ravindra Jadeja did not need to bowl in the game as Dharmendrasinh and Co ran through Assam on a turner.
Jharkhand registered their second win of the season after winning over Tamil Nadu by 44 runs on day three. Utkarsh Singh was honoured with the “Man of the Match” award for his stunning performances in the match.
He took 6 wickets for 30 runs in the first innings before picking one in the second essay.
Utkarsh also top-scored in Jharkhand`s second innings with 35 valuable runs in a low-scoring match.
Brief scores: Delhi 374 in 106.4 overs beat Railways 241 and 114 all out in 30.5 overs (Mohammed Saidf31; Shivam Sharma 5/33) by innings and 19 runs.
In Rajkot: Saurashtra 474 in 117 overs. Assam 164 all out and 166 in 36.4 overs (Sumit Ghadigaonkar 40; Dharmendra Sinh Jadeja 5/50)). Saurashtra won by an innings and 144 runs.
In Jamshedpur: Jharkhand 185 and 154. Tamil Nadu was 106 all out and 189 all out in 55.4 overs. (Mohamed Ali 44; Manishi 4/49). Jharkhand won by 44 runs.
(With PTI Inputs)
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