Anantapur: India B captain Abhimanyu Easwaran carries the bat throughout day three’s play to be unbeaten on 143 off 262 balls as the side reached 309/7 at stumps against India C in their Duleep Trophy second round match at the Rural Development Trust Stadium ‘B’ on Saturday.
But with just one day of play left, the match is headed for a draw as India B still trail India C by 216 runs. Resuming day three from 124/0, N Jagadeesan could only add three runs to his overnight score of 67 before being caught behind by wicketkeeper Abishek Porel off pacer Anshul Kamboj, who brought the 129-run opening stand to an end.
Kamboj struck again when he trapped Musheer Khan lbw for just one off 15 balls and went on to dismiss his elder brother Sarfaraz Khan in the same fashion for 16. From the other end, Easwaran looked to bat through, hitting his shots while being solid in his defence to be unbeaten on 80 at lunch.
Post lunch, Kamboj continued to hurt India B as he had Rinku Singh caught at mid-off for just six. The pacer soon completed his five-wicket haul by castling Nitish Kumar Reddy. But from the other end, Easwaran was undeterred in his quest to lead the charge for India B and brought up his 24th first-class century in 178 balls.
But India B continued to be in deep trouble as Vijayakumar Vyshak had Washington Sundar caught at silly mid-off for 13, while Mayank Markande trapped R Sai Kishore lbw for 21. Chahar entertained the Anantapur crowd with a four and a six to be unbeaten on 18 as he gave Easwaran some stability from the other end, something which other India B batters couldn’t do so on day three.
Brief Scores: India C 525 (Ishan Kishan 111; Rahul Chahar 4-73) lead India B 309/7 (Abhimanyu Easwaran 143*, N Jagadeesan 70; Anshul Kamboj 5-66) by 216 runs
–IANS