Hat-trick by Imran

NEW DELHI: Imran Ali pursues a simple theory when he holds the ball in his hand. “Line and length,” is the mantra and this 28-year-old seamer rocked Delhi with a six-wicket haul on the opening day of the Nissar Trophy match here on Monday.

His performance was laced with a hat-trick on an eventful day that saw Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL) finish at 143 for six after skittling Delhi out for 134.

Play was extended as rain halted play in the afternoon. Exploiting the situation better than Delhi which elected to bat, Imran got the ball to seam and swing a bit but was aided by some aimless batting too by the home team.

“We knew (Virender) Sehwag was the main player,” confessed Imran and he was rewarded with his prize wicket in the second over of the day. Most Delhi batsmen were guilty of attempting expansive strokes and perishing.

Imran’s best came in for the afternoon when he scalped three in a row — Puneet Bisht, Chetnya Nanda and Pradeep Sangwan — as Delhi collapsed from 90 for two to a disappointing 134 all out. The resistance came from Virat Kohli, who made 52 off 83 balls with 11 fours and Mithun Manhas, who batted 52 balls for his 49 with nine fours.

SNGPL suffered an early blow when Yasir Arafat fell to Ashish Nehra in the third over but Mohammad Hafeez and Umar Akmal batted sensibly to add 52 runs before Nehra got the breakthrough again.

Akmal batted fluently to craft a 73-ball 58 with nine fours but two quick strikes by leg-spinner Chetnya Nanda kept Delhi in the game. Nehra, bowling a tidy line, claimed one more wicket as SNGPL finished the day with a nine-run lead.

The scores:

Delhi — 1st innings: Aakash Chopra c Adnan Akmal b Asad Ali 4, Virender Sehwag b Imran Ali 0, Virat Kohli c Adnan Akmal b Asad Ali 52, Mithun Manhas c & b Imran Khalid 49, Rajat Bhatia c Adnan Akmal b Asad Ali 1, Mayanak Tehlan c Adnan Akmal b Imran Ali 0, Puneet Bisht lbw b Imran Ali 0, Chetnya Nanda b Imran Ali 0, Pradeep Sangwan lbw b Imran Ali 0, Ashish Nehra (not out) 4, Ishant Sharma lbw b Imran Ali 8; Extras (b-5, lb-9, nb-2): 16. Total (in 36.3 overs): 134.

Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-4, 3-90, 4-107, 5-118, 6-118, 7-118, 8-118, 9-118.

SNGPL bowling: Asad Ali 14-5-32-3, Imran Ali 15.3-5-52-6, Adil Raza 4-0-21-0, Imran Khalid 3-0-15-1.

SNGPL — 1st innings: Mohammad Hafeez c G. Chhabra (sub) b Nehra 28, Yasir Arafat lbw b Nehra 0, Umar Akmal b Nanda 58, Azhar Shafiq lbw b Sangwan 22, Misbah ul Haq b Nanda 9, Khurram Shahzad (batting) 4, Adnan Akmal lbw b Nehra 14, Imran Khalid (batting) 7; Extras (lb-1) 1. Total (for six wickets in 38 overs): 143.

Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-59, 3-99, 4-113, 5-118, 6-133.

Delhi bowling: Nehra 10-3-36-3, Ishant Sharma 11-2-50-1, Pradeep Sangwan 9-1-51-1, Rajat Bhatia 4-2-4-0, Chetnya Nanda 3-2-1-2.