Some sighted the ball well. Some did not. In the end the team that adapted better won the honours. In this case, it was India Red, which had the bowlers to slice through India Green.
The winning margin was 219 runs and that told the story of the difference between the teams in the Duleep Trophy league match at the Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Sports Complex here on Friday. The victory fetched India Red six points.
India Red’s win was a foregone conclusion when India Green resumed its chase for an improbable target of 499.
Suresh Raina walked out with Ashoke Dinda knowing well it was a matter of time before the contest ended.
It took India Red 10.2 overs in which the losing team added 60 runs — Raina accounted for 48 before he fell 10 runs short of a century.
For India Red, the star was left-arm chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav, who finished with nine wickets in the match.
Mixed feelingsThe players had come here with an open mind and returned with mixed feelings.
Abhinav Mukund, the Man-of-the-Match with knocks of 77 and 169, had no issues in sighting the ball.
“I think a lot of people had issues sighting the ball, but I didn’t have any issues with visibility.”
Another centurion, Gurkeerat Mann, said, “For me initially it was. You could see most of the batsmen except (Abhinav) Mukund struggled in the first innings. “Slowly we were able to sight the ball. It is about getting used to the ball.
“If we give it sometime and practice a bit more with pink ball and at night also then maybe sighting won’t be a problem.”
India Green wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel shared his experience of the pink-ball game. “It was good. We all came with pre-conceived notion that there will be a lot of movement around but it didn’t move as much as we thought.
“It was good to be playing the first pink-ball game and be part of history.
“The conditions were really good. It was an ideal four-day pitch where it would turn a bit, swing and was good to bat on.
“I think a lot of people had issues sighting the ball, but I didn’t have any issues with visibility.”
In the next match, starting on August 29, India Red will meet India Blue.
The scores:
India Red — 1st innings: 161
India Green — 1st innings: 151
India Red — 2nd innings: 486
India Green — 2nd innings: Robin Uthappa c Yuvraj b Kuldeep Yadav 72 ( 66b, 10x4, 1x6 ), Jalaj Saxena b Ishwar Pandey 26 ( 26b, 6x4 ), Parthiv Patel lbw b Kuldeep Yadav 21 ( 66b, 4x4 ), Rajat Paliwal lbw b Kuldeep Yadav 0 ( 2b ), Suresh Raina c Nathu Singh b Kuldeep Yadav 90 ( 101b, 11x4, 3x6 ),
Saurabh Tiwary lbw b Kuldeep Yadav 31 ( 51b, 4x4 ), Shreyas Gopal c Bharat b Anureet Singh 3 ( 12b ), Sandeep Sharma b Kuldeep Yadav 0 ( 1b ),
Ashoke Dinda c Pandey b Nathu Singh 10 ( 8b, 2x4 ), Pragyan Ojha c Abhinav Mukund b Wakhare 7 ( 13b, 1x4 ), Ankit Rajpoot (not out) 0; Extras (lb-9, nb-8): 17; Total (in 56.2 overs): 277.
Fall of wickets: 1-66, 2-122, 3-122, 4- 131, 5-185, 6-198, 7-199, 8-239, 9-275.
India Red bowling: Anureet Singh 10-2-46-1, Nathu Singh 10-1-64-1, Akshay Wakhare 7.2-0-30-1, Ishwar Pandey 10-2-34-1, Kuldeep Yadav 18-1-88-6, Gurkeerat Mann 1-0-6-0.
