Off-spinner Shivam Sharma’s five for 33 triggered a swift end to proceedings on the third day as Delhi romped past Railways by an innings and 19 runs in a Group D Ranji Trophy battle at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.

The 31-year-old’s third fifer in First Class cricket meant that Virat Kohli didn’t get a chance to improve on his first-innings score of six in his keenly anticipated return to the competition after more than 12 years.

Midway through Saturday’s afternoon session, Railways folded for 114, a meek response after the host got to 374 and claimed a first-innings lead of 133 runs. The resounding victory in the final round of the group phase took Delhi to 21 points, but with Saurashtra also claiming a bonus-point win to equal Tamil Nadu on 25 points, the Ayush Badoni-led team failed to make the quarter-finals.

In a match that drew fierce attention due to Kohli’s presence, there was one final display of adulation from the fans towards the India megastar on Saturday. It came in the penultimate over before the lunch break when three fans from the stand named after Gautam Gambhir dodged the security and invaded the outfield to rush towards Kohli at cover. Around 20 members from the security staff were compelled to follow the three fans into the outfield when Sumit Mathur’s over was in progress and take them away.

Shivam made light of the security lapse afterwards. “The craze around Virat  bhaiya is such. But it is not the right thing obviously for them to enter. We were just joking about it within the team. They didn’t say anything to Virat. They just told Virat to tell the security not to hit them,” he said. 

Either side of this incident, Delhi was thoroughly dominant. But as the team looks back on its Ranji campaign, skipper Ayush Badoni, whose job is to make runs, finishing as the team’s highest wicket-taker with his off-breaks doesn’t reflect well on the frontline spinners.

“There is a problem with the spin department because we have not taken many wickets,” Shivam conceded. “We could have done well in the last match as well on a spin-conducive pitch. The other spinners are quite young. There is potential and they are good bowlers. They will learn.”