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A masterclass century by Musheer Khan and a fine all-round performance by Navdeep Saini helped India B secure a 76-run win over India A at Bengaluru on Sunday in the first round of the Duleep Trophy.
India A won the toss and elected to field first. The other match saw India C beating India D by four wickets. India B had slipped to 94/7, with Akash Deep toying with the batters. Then came a massive, game-changing partnership between Musheer Khan, India's U19 star on the rise and pacer Navdeep Saini. Musheer and Navdeep stitched a double-century partnership, with the Mumbai batter scoring an incredible 181 in 373 balls, with 16 fours and five sixes, making this his third ton in seven first-class games. Navdeep also scored 56 in 144 balls, with eight fours and a six. India B made 321 in their first innings in 116 overs. Akash Deep (4/60) was the pick of the bowlers for India A, getting key scalps of Rishabh Pant (7) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (0) in his spell. Khaleel Ahmed and Avesh Khan picked up two wickets while Kuldeep Yadav got one wicket. In this inning, Indian opener Yashasvi Jaiswal (30 in 59 balls, with six fours) made a notable contribution as well. In their first innings, India A started off well, with skipper Shubman Gill and Mayank Agarwal stitching a half-century stand. Navdeep removed both the openers for 25 and 36, respectively. KL Rahul (37 in 111 balls, with four boundaries) and Riyan Parag (30 in 64 balls, with four boundaries) put on a fine partnership of 79 runs for the third wicket. The rest of the line-up failed to capitalise on this stability, as Dhruv Jurel (2), Shivam Dube (20 in 42 balls, with four boundaries) and Tanush Kotian (32 in 71 balls, with four boundaries) did not add much to their scores. India A was skittled out for 231 runs and lagged behind by 90 runs. Navdeep (3/60) and Mukesh Kumar (3/62) took three wickets and led the pack for India B. Sai Kishore got two scalps, while Yash Dayal and Washington Sundar got a wicket each. India B aimed to build on their 90-run lead, but Jaiswal, skipper Abhimanyu Easwaran and Musheer were removed for single-digits, reducing the team to 22/3. Sarfaraz Khan (46 in 36 balls, with seven fours and a six) and Pant (61 in 47 balls, with nine fours and two sixes) put up fine counter-attacking knocks that kept the scoreboard ticking. Both added 72-runs for the fourth wicket. However, the lower-order did not do much special, leading to India B skittling out for 184 runs. They led by 274 runs and set India A 275-runs to win. Akash Deep (5/56) delivered yet another memorable performance, putting himself in contention for India's upcoming Test season. Khaleel took three wickets while Kotian and Kuldeep got one. In the run chase of 275, Mayank Agarwal got out early, but Shubman (21 in 35 balls, with two fours) and Riyan (31 in 18 balls, with a four and three sixes) put on a brief-partnership. India A was reduced to 99/6. KL Rahul scored a fine half-century, making 57 in 121 balls, with seven fours. But he found no support. India A was skittled out for 198 runs in 53 overs. Dayal (3/50) was the leading wicket-taker for India B, while Navdeep and Mukesh took two wickets. Washington and Nitish got a wicket each. Musheer was given the 'Player of the Match' award for his fine century. (ANI)
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