The game hangs in the balance after yet another fascinating day of cricket in Anantapur. Riding on a fine half-century from Baba Indrajith, India C posted 168 in the first innings of their Duleep Trophy match against India D after, starting Day 2 on 91/4. After taking a lead of just four runs, India C were pushed on the back foot by quick half-centuries from Shreyas Iyer and Devdutt Padikkal. However, later in the day, Manav Suthar spun a web to leave India D at 206/8 at stumps, with the tweaker registering a five-wicket (5/30) haul.
At the start of Day 2, India C were 73 runs behind India D’s first-innings total. The last recognised batting pair was at the crease. Both Abishek Porel and Baba Indrajith had got the starts they needed yesterday, and they had a fair idea of how the wicket was behaving. However, Harshit Rana’s first spell in the morning ensured that Porel did not prolong his stay at the crease, as he was caught plumb in front. The next three wickets fell quickly. To make full use of the live grass and moisture on the pitch, India D pacers bowled full and made the opposition batters play on the first day.
Today, though, they adopted a different plan. The pace trio of Harshit, Arshdeep Singh, and Aditya Thakare pulled their lengths back a bit and bowled at the body to the tail-enders. All three extracted extra bounce from the surface.
Arshdeep, who had looked out of touch yesterday, appeared threatening today. More often than not, he hit the three-quarter length, which was a good sign for him and his team as the match progressed. Porel’s wicket meant that Indrajith was left with a long tail to work with. Understanding the situation and seeing wickets fall regularly at the other end, Indrajith began finding boundaries more frequently and held the strike better after Vijaykumar Vyshak got out.
He was particularly severe against Axar Patel, who was India D’s best bowler yesterday. His judgment of length was superb, and he picked the right deliveries to hit boundaries. The right-handed batter from Tamil Nadu played all around the park, displaying a full repertoire of shots. Cut, late cut, flick, down the ground, inside out and paddle sweep — he played them all. The way he played with the tail-enders to take his team to a lead, which did not look possible at 108/8, was fascinating to watch. He brought all his first-class experience to the fore and took his team to a four-run lead.
While it was Indrajith with the bat for India C, Harshit was the highest wicket-taker for India D. The right-arm seamer bagged four wickets. He was quick, aggressive and bowled with a lot of heart.
India D aimed to score quickly in their second innings. In the process, they again lost their openers quickly. Vyshak bowled a brilliant probing spell with the new ball. When Iyer came out to bat, all eyes were on him as he had failed in the first innings.
However, he did not disappoint in the second innings, smashing a sparkling half-century at a strike-rate of 122.73. He was particularly severe against the pace duo Vyshak and Himanshu Chauhan, effortlessly hitting them down the ground for boundaries. He was not shy to take the aerial route also, as there was little happening off the wicket once the ball lost its shine. He was well supported by Padikkal, who looked organised during his 70-ball stay at the crease.
The two shared a fifty-run stand. Once Iyer was out, Ricky Bhui formed a 72-run partnership with Padikkal. Things changed after Padikkal’s dismissal. There were rough spots created by the pacers, which were exploited by Manav, who ran through the middle order of India D to reduce them from 166/4 to 203/8.
Brief scores: India D 206/8 (Devdutt Padikkal 56, Shreyas Iyer 54; Manav Suthar 5/30) lead India C 168 (Baba Indrajith 72, Abishek Porel 34; Harshit Rana 4/33, Saransh Jain 2/16) by 202 runs