India B seal Deodhar final spot
A steady 76 by Hanuma Vihari and a tight bowling by spinners, led by K Gowtham, helped India B beat India C by 30 runs and enter the final of the Deodhar Trophy at the Ferozeshah Kotla on Wednesday.
After being restricted to 231/9, India B spinners made full use of the slow track and bowled out the Ajinkya Rahane-led
India A for 201 in
48.2 overs. This was India B’s second consecutive win after their 43-run victory over India A as they now face the winner of Thursday’s India A vs India C match, in the final on Saturday.
After opener R Samarth fell to fast bowler Deepak Chahar, offspinner Gowtham cashed in on the pressure built by the consistent Shahbaz Nadeem and accounted for India C’s two-most experienced batsmen, Rahane and Suresh Raina — who was playing his 300th List A match.
A 48-run partnership between Suryakumar Kumar (39) and Vijay Shankar (35) did raise some hopes but the part-time spin of Manoj Tiwary and Iyer all but ended India C’s chances of staging the rescue act. Tiwary and Gowtham were the pick of India B’s bowlers with three wickets apiece. Earlier, India B opener Mayank Agarwal looked good for a big score but fell on 24. Prashant Chopra (17), Iyer (10) and Rohit Rayudu (1) too couldn’t make an impact.
Twice in as two days, it was down to Vihari, who steadied the ship in a useful stand with Ankush Bains. Reduced to 90/5, the duo put on 60 before Bains was undone by a Raina delivery that kept low. Vihari, who an unbeaten 87 on Tuesday, managed 76 off 94 balls, including six boundaries before falling to fast bowler Rajneesh Gurbani.
Brief Scores: India B 231/9 in 50 overs (Vihari 76, Gurbani 3/38, Roy 3/45) beat India C 201 in 48.2 overs (Gowtham 3/40, Tiwary 3/44) by 30 runs.
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