Duleep Trophy 2018, Match 1: India Red vs India Green – Day 3 Review

Despite Baba Indrajith’s scintillating century, India Red took a slender lead in the Duleep Trophy opening game at the NPR College Ground, Dindigul. With just another day’s play left in the game, it’s fair to say that the game is heading towards a stalemate.

Sudeep Chatterjee and Indrajith picked up from where they left on the previous day. Both the batsmen stood tall and their towering presence was too good for the Red bowlers. Indrajith completed a well-compiled fifty in the process and the partnership between the players went into three figures.

But the partnership ended on a sorrow note as Chatterjee ran himself out in a process of sneaking a single. Ishan Porel then joined the party and sent back the struggling skipper Parthiv Patel, who departed for just 11 runs. Gurkeerat Mann and Indrajith steadied the ship with a crucial partnership at this juncture.

Indrajith completed his century in the process and India Green went past the 250-run mark. But he fell soon after his ton, but not before registering an important 56-run partnership with Gurkeerat. They still had around 90 runs to overhaul their opponent’s total and they were nearly there.

Rajneesh Gurbani makes his presence felt

After a mind-boggling performance in the previous Ranji Trophy season, Rajneesh Gurbani made a great impact for the India Red side with the ball. After Indrajith and Gukeerat’s dismissal, the lower middle order failed to cope with this young Vidarbha bowler who ended up scalping 7 wickets.

The last notable contribution in their innings came from the bat of all-rounder Jalaj Saxena, who stroked a decent 27 in 51 balls. Thanks to Gurbani’s breathtaking spell, they lost 4 wickets in a span of 8 runs and eventually, Parthiv Patel’s side was bowled for 309 runs, giving away a lead of 28 runs.

Coming out to bat in the second innings, Abhinav Mukund and Sanjay Ramaswamy started aggressively. The duo spanked a few boundaries and the intent was very clear. But the day ended abruptly due to poor light and India Red could only manage 38 runs in 6.3 overs.

Mukund and his side have a 66-run lead in the match. The day belonged to a certain Rajneesh Gurbani, who rode through the batting line-up and earned his side a crucial momentum towards the end.

Brief Scores:

India Red: 337/10 in 132.5 overs(Ashutosh Singh 80, Mihir Hirwani 61; Ankit Rajpoot 4/57)

India Green: 309 all out in 111.3 overs(Sudip Chatterjee 82, Baba Indrajith 109; Rajneesh Gurbani 7/81)

India Red: 38/0 in 6.3 overs (Abhinav Mukund 21*)

State of the game: India Red lead by 66 runs in the second innings with another day’s play left.

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