Starting the day with a 550-run first-innings lead, Delhi held a distinct edge over the visitors. The specks of dust that emerged from the strip following their declaration the previous evening must have enticed Ayush Badoni’s men. The pitch, however, refused to belie its nature and offered Gujarat time to course-correct despite reeling at 153 for four in the first session.

With their main stroke-makers sent back, Hingrajia and Jaymeet’s left-handed pairing dropped a stubborn anchor, foiling Badoni’s plans and distracting his two lead pacers.

Keeping themselves busy on the sidelines, Grewal and Saini occasionally turned for updates from the adjacent Ground A, where Bengal and Services were locked in a tight skirmish. The quicks from both grounds, separated by only a few metres, exchanged messages at their mid-wicket stations. The pacers were restricted to one wicket in the entire game on the other side.

Having rested himself this round, Mohammad Shami summed up the contrasting nature of the pitches crisply, both invariably spelling bad news for the fast bowlers. “Udhar runon ki bauchhaar ho raha hai or idhar run ke lale pad rahe the. (Runs were splashing over there and here we were desperately lacking runs),” the Bengal veteran quipped.

The 28-year-old Hingrajia led the Gujarat side last season, but had now returned to his primary role as the specialist number four. His progression from the age-group circuit where he topped the under-23 run-scoring charts across the country eight years ago wasn’t straightforward. His white-ball career for the state was ever so fleeting, ending with two List A caps in four days in 2019.

Back home in Ahmedabad, though, he is the omnipresent crisis man for his home association. This summer he found himself in a unique T20 World Cup cameo when the Netherlands side put in a rare request to the local association before their group-stage match against India in Motera. The absence of skilful left-handers in their ranks prompted the Dutch to turn to a local ‘net batter’. Hingrajia responded to Gujarat’s SOS and signed up for a special range-hitting session.

But Hingrajia’s uncomplicated defence and endurance suggest a natural affinity for the whites.

Only in the post-lunch session did Delhi find momentary relief from Hingrajia’s steely rearguard. It came at the other end when Jaymeet poked Saini to second slip, ending a 242-ball fifth-wicket stand.

Hingrajia dawdled with purpose and did not cede an inch. In the first hour past tea, he jotted only four runs. It took him 251 balls to reach his century, his fifth ton across six wavering years of persistence in the Ranji circuit.

Delhi’s bright spots were confined to the first 90 minutes of the day when Badoni’s tight close-in fields denied free-flowing runs. Pacer Divij Mehra soon dismissed Vedant, caught around his pads, before Urvil squandered his brisk start with a mistimed slog that popped up to the first-slip fielder against offie Hrithik Shokeen.

The top order’s uninspired shot-making could have proven fatal on another day. But for Hingrajia’s unperturbed blockathon, Gujarat held on, denying Delhi a facile path through their entire batting line-up.

Brief Scores: Delhi 648/6 decl. vs Gujarat 363/5 in 120 overs (Manan Hingrajia 108 batting, Jaymeet Patel 72; Hrithik Shokeen 3/94). Gujarat trail by 285 runs.