Deodhar Trophy 2018-19: Match 2, India B vs India C, Review- Hanuma Vihari stars in another win for his side

After a nervy win in the first encounter against India A, the B side squared off against India C in the second match of the Deodhar Trophy. They won the match yet again by 30 runs to progress to the final of the tournament. The game was a low-scoring one on a track which was tough to bat on. Hanuma Vihari was yet again the star for India B with a lone-warrior knock.

All the three players who were rested for the first match were given a go in the second. For India B, it was Abhinav Mukund, Rahul Chahar and Umar Nazir Mir who were warming the bench. It is all down to the game between India A and India C now. The winner of this match will play India B in the final on Saturday.

Vihari brings out back-to-back top-notch performances

India B skipper Shreyas Iyer won the toss and opted to bat first. However, unlike the last game where there were contributions from the top order, there weren’t any this time around. The top three batsmen fell in quick successions and didn’t really get amongst the run. While openers Prashant Chopra and Mayank Agarwal added 17 and 24 runs respectively, Iyer fell after getting 10 runs.

India B lost another two quick wickets and were down to 90/5. At this point in time, Hanuma Vihari surged a brilliant comeback. With slight support from the other batsmen, he maintained good scoring rates. He made his way through to 76 off 94 balls before Rajneesh Gurbani dismissed him in the 45th over. With Jayadev Unadkat and Shahbaz Nadeem adding an unbeaten 36 runs for the last wicket, they reached 231/9 in 50 overs.

Krishnappa Gowtham and Manoj Tiwary make an impact with the ball

Although the target seemed to be small, the track was getting tough to bat. They lost their opener R Samarth early in the innings for just 5 runs. Although skipper Ajinkya Rahane and Shubman Gill looked to bring the innings back on track with some responsible innings, they perished at the wrong time. Rahane crawled his way to 32 off 61 deliveries while his partner perished after getting 36.

Suresh Raina failed to deliver in the match and was dismissed for just one run. Suryakumar Yadav (39 off 46 balls) and Vijay Shankar (35 off 34 balls) raised hopes of a win. However, just like Rahane and Gill, they got out when the team needed them the most.

Although Washington Sundar and Navdeep Saini got India C close, the asking rate was always crawling up and they were ultimately bowled out for 201 runs. Krishnappa Gowtham and Manoj Tiwary picked three wickets each and played an important role in defending the total.

Brief Scores

India B: 231/9 in 50 overs (Hanuma Vihari 76, Ankush Bains 25, Rajneesh Gurbani 3/38)

India C: 201 all out in 48.2 overs (Suryakumar Yadav 39, Shubman Gill 36, Krishnappa Gowtham 3/40)

Result: India B won by 30 runs.