With an unbeaten 120-run knock, Baba Indrajith anchored India Red to 291 for nine against India Blue on Day 1 in the Duleep Trophy game in Kanpur. At Stumps, the middle-order batsman was batting with Vijay Gohil (22* off 35) in an unbroken 86-run stand in the second day-night four-day match being played with the pink ball.
Electing to bat first, India Red lost their standout performer of the first match, Priyank Panchal just before Tea. Along with Sudip Chatterjee, the batsman had helped the team almost see the first session through in a 70-run opening stand until he was trapped lbw by Ankit Rajpoot.
With Rahul Gahlaut, Chatterjee took the team to Tea at 73 for one at the end of the over. However, in the first over of the second session, the opener was bowled by India Blue captain, Suresh Raina leaving the team on 74 for two. 17 runs later, the No 3 bat was dismissed by Rajpoot. With India Red on 91 for three, Indrajith joined his skipper Dinesh Karthik in the middle. But eight runs later, Bhargav Bhatt dealt another blow to the line-up by accounting for the wicketkeeper-batsman leaving the side 99 for four.
Although India Red continued to lose wickets at regular intervals, Indrajith determinedly held fort. The fifth wicket partnership ended with Akshay Wakhare claiming Rishabh Pant while Rajpoot accounted for Karn Sharma 15 runs later. The middle-order bat was involved in a 21-run stand with CV Milind until the latter was castled by Manoj Tiwary leaving the team on 159 for seven.
With Siddharth Kaul, Indrajith then took the team to Dinner at 161 for seven. In the final session, Jaydev Unadkat claimed the lower-order bat and followed up with the wicket of Basil Thampi a while later leaving India Red on 205 for nine. But, Indrajith found an able ally in Gohil to keep the opposition at bay. The duo stitched together a partnership to deny the Raina-led team the last wicket until play was ended for the day.
Scores: End of Day 1 ā India Red 1st inn 291/9 in 84 overs (B Indrajith 120*, V Gohil 22*, A Rajpoot 3/44)
