India A lifted the Prof D B Deodhar Trophy after beating India B by 87 runs in the final in Kanpur. After Faiz Fazal set the stage for a competitive score with a well compiled century, Kedar Jadhav’s late onslaught set India B a 287-run target. The pacers then bowled the team to victory by wrapping up the opposition for 199.
Defending 286, S Arvind trapped India B captain, the in-form Unmukt Chand in front while Krishna Das dealt a double blow as India B were reduced to 12 for three. Mayank Agarwal struck the pacer straight to mid-off while Das forced an edge from Baba Aparajith through to the wicketkeeper. Both batsmen who had survived early on departed without causing much damage. However, their team couldn’t recover from the damage caused by India A new-ball bowlers and were playing catch-up from there on.
28 runs later, Shreyas Iyer edged Arvind towards the slips and Fazal took the catch close to the ground. Facing an uphill task, Surya Kumar Yadav worked to hold up one end while keeping up with the required run rate, but was unable to find support from the other end. Dinesh Karthik’s departure 14 runs later left the team reeling at 54 for five. Shardul Thakur crashed into the wicketkeeper-batsman’s stumps to tip the balance in his team’s favour.
In his next over, Thakur missed an opportunity to send back Yadav as his Mumbai team-mate hit the fuller delivery straight back while on 19.
With Stuart Binny, he stitched a 64-run partnership in a valiant effort to revive the innings. However, with the team on 116, he was sent back by Amit Mishra and a while later, Shahbaz Nadeem accounted for the hard-hitting Pawan Negi.
Binny continued his efforts to get close to the the target with Karn Sharma, who attacked the India A bowlers. After hitting three sixes during his stay, Sharma perished pulling Thakur towards deep mid-wicket where Sudip Chatterjee pulled off a good catch.
Binny was the next to depart. Coming down the track to Nadeem, the all-rounder found his bails ripped apart by Naman Ojha. And three balls later, the spinner accounted for Nathu Singh to give India A a thumping win.
Earlier, the162-run opening stand between Faiz Fazal and Murali Vijay set the tone for the India A innings after Ambati Rayudu elected to bat in the all-important encounter.
Fazal, who got off the mark with a boundary through leg side off Dhawal Kulkarni anchored the innings with a well compiled century. However, after Vijay departed hitting Nathu to midwicket, India A lost wickets at regular intervals. Ojha holed out towards deep midwicket while the opener was run out looking for a single. The team were reduced to 204 for four by Binny, who ended Rayudu’s shaky 21-run knock.
Kedar Jadhav, who had scripted India A’s win in their previous game then helped lift the total in yet another late blitzkrieg. During his unbeaten 39-ball 58-run knock, he claimed 17 runs of Nathu in the 48th over with a boundary and a six to take the team to a comfortable total.
Brief scores: India A 286/7 in 50 overs (F Fazal 100, M Vijay 69, K Jadhav 58*, D Kulkarni 2/31) beat India B 199/10 in 40.4 overs (S Binny 60, SK Yadav 45, S Nadeem 3/36, K Das 2/32, S Arvind 2/43, S Thakur 2/47) by 87 runs.
