After being put in to bat by Delhi skipper Pradeep Sangwan, Uttar Pradesh found themselves in a bit of bother, with the early exit of their openers - Abhishek Goswami and Madhav Kaushik. For Delhi, it was their skipper Sangwan, who got the ball rolling before fellow left-arm pacer Kulwant Khejroliya picked up the wicket from the other end. In the span of the next two overs, Uttar Pradesh’s hopes on Priyam Garg to put on a show vanished in thin air, when the youngster was run-out, yet again without troubling the scorer, with a six-ball duck, with the scoreboard reading 25/3, leaving UP dead for rights. 

But as their season has shown thus far and domestic cricket, in particular, possibilities are endless and on a given day, anyone can raise their hand up for their state side, which was exactly the events that transpired at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. In Delhi’s home, Uttar Pradesh’s skipper Karan Sharma and Upendra Yadav found their comfort, after losing Aksh Deep Nath to the nonsense of a shot, down the leg-side. While Karan showed the full blade to the spinners, Upendra built his innings slow and steadily, with a brilliant century - 112 off 101 deliveries. Sameer Choudhary, who batted alongside Upendra took UP to an above-par total of 280, from a position of despair earlier for them.

And when Rana got out, it was the final nail in Delhi’s coffin, or at least it looked like. However, Uttar Pradesh’s baffling strategy, bringing on part-timer Aksh Deep Nath instead of bringing back Shivam Mavi into the attack allowed Delhi to claw back in the encounter, needing 158 runs to win off the last 18 overs, with five wickets still remaining. Anuj Rawat and Lalit Yadav, for Delhi, kept the scoreboard ticking, with brilliant strokes. In the last ten, Delhi still needed 104 runs, with Rawat and Lalit this time well settled at the crease.