NEW DELHI: Openers Priyansh Arya and Tejasvi Dahiya struck aggressive fifties to lift Delhi past skipper Rishabh Pant’s modest outing, as they edged out Saurashtra by three wickets in a Group D clash of the Vijay Hazare Trophy on Monday.

Chasing 321, Arya (78 off 45 balls) and Tejasvi (53 off 51 balls) laid the foundation for a Virat Kohli less Delhi, who got over the line in 48.5 overs despite losing seven wickets at the Alur 2 ground.

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Earlier, Saurashtra posted a competitive 320 for seven in their 50 overs, built around opener Vishvarajsinh Jadeja’s 115 off 104 balls and Ruchit Ahir’s unbeaten 95 off 65 deliveries.

Kohli, who had been instrumental in Delhi’s victories in the first two matches with a century and a fifty, is set to rejoin the squad on January 6 for the game against Railways at the BCCI Centre of Excellence.

Pant endured another quiet outing, managing 22 off 26 balls before offering a catch to Jay Gohil off the bowling of Chirag Jani.

However, Delhi’s batters ensured that Pant’s failure and Kohli’s absence did not hurt the side. Arya was involved in a 66 run stand for the second wicket with Ayush Doseja before he fell to Chetan Sakariya.

At that stage, Delhi were 115 for two in 13.2 overs and although wickets fell at regular intervals, the required rate was kept firmly in check.

Tejasvi then played a key role in steadying the chase, featuring in two important partnerships after Delhi slipped to 160 for four. He added 48 runs for the fifth wicket with Pant and followed it up with a 40 run stand with Harsh Tyagi.

When Tejasvi was dismissed by Ankur Pawar, Delhi still needed 73 runs from the final 12 overs with four wickets in hand.

Tyagi (49 off 45 balls) and Navdeep Saini (34 not out) then stitched together a resolute seventh wicket partnership to take Delhi home and secure four valuable points.

Delhi now sit atop Group D with 12 points from three matches.

Earlier in the day, Jadeja anchored Saurashtra’s innings with two solid partnerships, adding 79 for the second wicket with Gajjar Sammar (41) and 80 for the sixth wicket with Ahir.

For Delhi, pacer Saini also impressed with the ball, finishing with figures of three for 41 from his 10 overs.

(With PTI Inputs)