India Red faced little resistance from India Blue and wrapped up the Duleep Trophy final with a day to spare at the Ekana Stadium here on Thursday.
After restricting India Red to 208 India Blue, faced with a target of 393, came a cropper against the spin duo of Washington Sundar and Vijay Gohil and lost the contest by 163 runs.
The wear and tear factor came into play as the pitch presented an increasing challenge as the day progressed. Batting was a nightmare as the ball often reared up from good length and gave off-spinner Washington (six for 87) and left-arm spinner Gohil (three for 102) a flattering reputation.
Washington, with his ability to hit the deck, and Gohil, with his variety, caused acute embarrassment to the opponents. Washington incidentally had his best Duleep Trophy match-haul of 11 for 181.
Barring the phase when skipper Suresh Raina and Manoj Tiwary faced the bowlers with confidence, India Blue was only fighting to delay the end result.
Bhargav Bhatt put the long handle to good use later and struck a 41-ball 51 (one four and five sixes) but his dismissal was bizarre. Taking evasive action from a shot at silly point, Prithvi Shaw deflected the ball for Suryakumar Yadav to take a return catch.
For his excellent all-round show, Washington was declared the ‘Man-of-the-match’.
Red captain Dinesh Karthik appreciated the surface, whereas the rival skipper Raina was critical saying the pitch could have been better.
The scores: India Red — 1st innings: 483.
India Blue — 1st innings: 299.
India Red — 2nd innings: Prithvi Shaw run out 31, Akhil Herwadkar c Tiwary b Wakhare 8, Ishank Jaggi c Tiwary b Bhatt 3, Dinesh Karthik c Tiwary b Wakhare 9, B. Indrajith b Unadkat 59, Washington Sundar c Raina b Bhatt 42, Suryakumar Yadav c Tiwary b Bhatt 22, Vijay Gohil st Bharat b Bhatt 3, Siddharth Kaul c Hooda b Wakhare 17, Basil Thampi c Bharat b Wakhare 2, Ashok Dinda (not out) 1; Extras (b-8, lb-2, nb-1): 11; Total (in 67.5 overs): 208.
Fall of wickets: 1-15, 2-24, 3-43, 4-58, 5-135, 6-164, 7-168, 8-187, 9-207.
India Blue bowling: Bhatt 27-5-77-4, Raina 20-9-0, Wakhare 22.5-5-66-4, Pankaj 5-1-8-0, Ishant 6-2-14-0, Unadkat 4-0-18-1, Tiwary 1-0-6-0.
India Blue — 2nd innings: Abhimanyu Easwaran lbw b Gohil 21, Ishan Kishan b Washington 18, Manoj Tiwary lbw b Washington 38, Suresh Raina lbw b Washington 45, Deepak Hooda c Suryakumar b Washington 3, K.S. Bharat c Shaw b Washington 0, Jaydev Unadkat lbw b Gohil 10, Bhargav Bhatt c & b Suryakumar 51, Akshay Wakhare c & b Gohil 6, Ishant Sharma (not out) 20, Pankaj Singh b Washington 6; Extras (b-4, lb-7): 11: Total (in 48 overs): 229.
Fall of wickets: 1-27, 2-47, 3-127, 4-132, 5-132, 6-137, 7-159, 8-177, 9-210.
India Red bowling: Washington 24-2-87-6, Gohil 20-1-102-3, Herwadkar 3-0-29-0, Suryakumar 1-1-0-1.
