Delhi made the first — and smart — use of the ‘Impact Player’ option to outplay Manipur by 71 runs in their opening match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy here on Tuesday.

Opener Hiten Dalal smashed a 27-ball 47 to push Delhi to 167/7. The Nitish Rana-led squad then used the ‘Impact Player’ card, replacing Dalal with off-spinner Hrithik Shokeen, who took a couple of wickets in his three-over spell as Manipur were bundled out for 96 in response.

The Impact Player rule allows a team to make a tactical substitution in the middle of the game.

Senior pacer Ishant Sharma played for Delhi, returning figures of 1/17 in three overs.

Rain ruins game

Bengal’s first match of the meet, against Jharkhand in Lucknow, was abandoned without a ball being bowled. Bengal’s next game is against Odisha, on Friday.

Written with inputs from PTI