Gill takes India C to Deodhar final, Rahane fails

NEW DELHI: When Shubman Gill came out to bat after India C skipper Ajinkya Rahane’s dismissal, the focus was less on the 19-year-old and more on another failure of the India star and whether it may have ended the 30-year-old’s hopes of an ODI comeback.

Gill, one of the key performers in India’s U-19 World Cup win this year, underlined his calibre as his unbeaten 106 – fourth List A century -- guided India C to the Deodhar Trophy final with a six-wicket win over India A at the Ferozeshah Kotla on Thursday. They will face India B on Saturday.

At 85/3 chasing 294 with Rahane (14), Abhinav Mukund (37) and Suresh Raina (2) out, and Prithvi Shaw unavailable due to a hand injury, things were tricky.

PARTNERSHIP

But Gill and former India U-19 skipper Ishan Kishan added 121 runs in 17.2 overs. Kishan was the more aggressive, targetting Md Siraj – hitting three consecutive boundaries off the pacer’s second over.

Kishan scored 69 off 60 deliveries, including 11 fours, before being trapped by R Ashwin. Gill then added a 90-run unbroken partnership with Suryakumar Yadav, who hit a 36-ball 56 not out, to seal victory with 18 balls to spare.

RAHANE, RAINA FLOP

India are still in search of a No 4 and 5 for the next year’s World Cup, but Rahane managed just 56 runs in the tournament. Like India B’s ploy to use a spinner against Rahane early on, India A skipper Dinesh Karthik started with Ashwin.

Only nine runs were scored off the first five overs, of which three were bowled by Ashwin with the new ball.

To up the scoring, Rahane charged down the track to pace bowler Dhawal Kulkarni, only for his Mumbai team-mate to take a sharp return catch. Raina was run out soon after, before Gill led the revival.

The top three India A batsmen – Anmolpreet Singh (59), Abhimanyu Easwaran (69) and Nitish Rana (68) -- set the platform for Karthik and Kedar Jadhav to score quickly and reach 293/6, the highest total so far in this edition.

Karthik scored 32 off 23 balls while Jadhav – playing his first match since the hamstring injury in the Asia Cup final last month – was 41 not out off 25.Tamil Nadu all-rounder Vijay Shankar’s (3/40) scalps towards the end restricted the India A side.

Brief scores:

India A 293/6 in 50 overs (A Easwaran 69, N Rana 68, V Shankar 3/40) lost

(S Gill 106*, I Kishan 69, S Yadav 56*) by six wickets. India (321-6 in 50) v West Indies (321-7 in 50) Vizag 2018