New Delhi: Ishant Sharma returned a sensational seven for 24 but Delhi were still looking down the barrel with a lead of only 36 runs and six second innings wickets in hand on a dramatic opening day of their Ranji Trophy Elite Division match against Orissa.

As many as 24 wickets tumbled here on Saturday.

Delhi were 38 for four with skipper Virender Sehwag (27 batting) and Rajat Bhatia (1 batting) at the crease when stumps were drawn after bad light stopped play at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium here.

Earlier, in their first innings, Delhi were bundled out for just 78 runs from 25.2 overs. In reply, Orissa did just a shade better, scoring 80 all out from 27.3 overs.

Summarised scores

In Ahmedabad: Gujarat 291/5 (Thaker 151 batting, Parthiv 84) vs Punjab.

In Delhi: Uttar Pradesh 275/8 (Raina 66, P. Kumar 51 batting; Sharma 3/59, A. Singh 3/60) vs Railways.

In Rajkot: Saurashtra 270/5 (Chauhan 111 batting, Pathak 88; P. Singh 3/38) vs Rajasthan.

In Vadodara: Maharashtra 228 (Jadhav 80; I. Pathan 5/54) vs Baroda 88/3.

In Vijaywada: Andhra vs Tamil Nadu (No play due to rain).

All matches to continue.

(Agencies)