Ranji Trophy match halted as man drives car onto the pitch in Delhi

In an extremely bizarre incident, a man who identifies himself as Girish Sharma, drove his car onto the field of play and onto the pitch during the Ranji Trophy match between Delhi and Uttar Pradesh at the Palam Ground.

The incident took place 20 minutes before the end of day's play. The umpires were forced to stop play and inspect the pitch for potential damage. Luckily, the pitch was deemed 'playable'.

The man claimed that he had lost his way and did not drive onto the field purposely. However, there were deliberate swerves made onto the pitch twice. Players and umpires tried to stop the man but were unsuccessful in their attempts to do so.

This is the first time such an incident has occurred on the field. There is no charge filed against the man just yet.

The match was initially supposed to take place at the Feroz Shah Kotla but the T20I between India and New Zealand forced the change in venue.

The two sides are locked in an intense battle in the third round of the prestigious tournament.

Uttar Pradesh managed to score only 291 in the first innings of the match. However, they managed to attain a first-innings lead after bowling the home side out for 269. Gautam Gambhir was the top scorer for the side with 86 runs to his name.

In their second innings, Uttar Pradesh ended the day with 224 runs on the board for the loss of seven wickets. Suresh Raina failed with the bat once again while Akshdeep Nath and Rinku Singh revived the innings. Ishant Sharma was the pick of the bowlers with three wickets to his name.

Delhi will look to bowl UP out as quickly as possible on the final day's play and achieve a victory.

The match will begin as scheduled on the final day at 9.15am.