Duleep Trophy: Pacer Navdeep Saini keeps India A in check
Navdeep Saini reminded of his presence among the fringe pacers with a quality new ball spell that helped India B keep India A in check at 134/2 in the first innings of their Duleep Trophy match.
India B needed their bowlers to carry on the excellent effort of Musheer Khan (181 off 373 balls) that powered ‘B’ to 321 in their first innings.
KL Rahul (23 off 80 balls) and Riyan Parag (27 off 49 balls) are at the crease at stumps on Day 2, with India A in arrears by 187 runs.
Saini showed some spark to eke out the wickets of India A skipper Shubman Gill (25) and his opening partner Mayank Agarwal (36).
Rahul and Parag were put through the wringer by the pace triumvirate of Saini, Mukesh Kumar and Nitish Kumar Reddy on a pitch that still offered a good bit of assistance to the quicks.
Balls whooshing past the bat and nervy edges underlined the toughness of the passage. Rahul needed 14 balls to get off the mark, and he was saved by a dropped catch at second slip by Nitish off Mukesh when the batter was on three. Parag, a natural shot-maker, too had to contain his instincts under the prevailing conditions.
India D extend lead
Anantapur: Fluent fifties from skipper Shreyas Iyer and Devdutt Padikkal saw India D stretch their lead to 202 runs against India C on the second day.
Seeking to make an India comeback, Iyer struck 54 off 44 balls and laced his innings with nine fours and a six, while Padikkal compiled a 56-run knock off 70 balls, hitting eight boundaries during his stay in the middle.
At stumps, India D were 206/8 in their second innings with Axar Patel (11 off 37 balls) and Harishit Rana at the crease.
Brief scores: India B: 321 (Musheer 181, Saini 56; Akash 4/60) vs India A: 134/2 (Agarwal 36, Parag 27; Saini 2/36); India D: 164 & 206/8 (Padikkal 56, Iyer 54; Suthar 5/30) vs India C: 168 (Indrajith 72; Rana 4/33, Saransh 2/16).
