Deodhar Trophy, India A v India B Review: Bowlers, Unmukt star in a win for India B

Unmukt Chand, the skipper of the India B team, won the toss and chose to field against the Ambati Rayudu lead India A side in the opening match of the Deodhar Trophy at the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur. The competition which will now be played on a 3-team format also comprises of the champion team of the Vijay Hazare tournament, in this case, Gujarat.

Nathu Singh gave his team a perfect start by producing a double-wicket over dismissing Jalal Saxena and Mandeep Singh. Saxena (4) got bowled over to any incoming delivery while Mandeep was cleaned up for a duck to a delivery which clipped the pads and crashed on to the stumps.

Murali Vijay’s 22-ball vigil for 0 came to an end when trying to cut a Dhawal Kulkarni ball he found Pawan Negi at point. Singh again rattled the stumps and sent back Kedar Jadhav for 7 to reduce India A to 15/4 in 9.4 overs.

Skipper Rayudu (58 off 91) and Parvez Rasool (66 off 94) batted well and were the only batsmen to register double digits in their team. Both made a solid recovery and it seemed that the team may reach close to 200 however the wicket of Rayudu, who was stumped by Dinesh Karthik off Negi, hampered the team’s progress. Stuart Binny took the wicket of Rasool with short of a length delivery outside off that landed in the hands of skipper Chand. Negi cleaned up Amit Mishra and Siddarth Kaul while Binny and Kulkarni added one wicket each to bundle out their opposition for 161 in 44.2 overs.

At the end of 7 overs India B openers, Chand and Iyer had posted 35 to give their team a strong start. The next over witnessed a four and a six by Iyer (24) however Amit Mishra got his man off the 4th delivery and removed Baba Aparajith (0) off the next one to get his team back in the game. Both these dismissals were LBWs.

Mishra’s third LBW victim, Sheldon Jackson (0), put the pressure on Chand however he handled it in a calm manner. Suryakumar Yadav made 17 and looked assured however was bowled by Kaul to reduce India B to 78/4 in 13.4 overs. Karthik hit 6 fours in his fine knock of 34 off 41 that ensured solid support for his skipper. Rasool took his wicket but the game was already in the bag for India B by then. Chand remained unbeaten on 77 off 82 with 9 fours and 1 six while Binny’s 4 not out came off 14 balls. The target was achieved in 29.2 overs which ensured an early finish to the game. The next match will be played between India B and Gujarat tomorrow.

Brief Scores:

India A: 161 in 44.2 overs (P Rasool 66; N Singh 3/23)

India B: 162/5 in 29.2 overs (U Chand 77*; A Mishra 3/62)