The Hindu : Sport : Karthik sees India Blue through

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Monday, Oct 29, 2007
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Sport

Karthik sees India Blue through

G. Viswanath

Niraj Patel proves to be an ideal foil

— PHOTO: PTI

IN THE THICK OF THINGS: Gautam Gambhir top-scored for India Red with a fine innings of 83.

Ahmedabad: Dinesh Karthick took guard when three wickets had tumbled for a cheap score, scored a splendid undefeated century (116, 92b, 14x4s, 2x6s) and took India Blue past the finish line in the UltraTech Challenger Series match for the N.K.P. Salve Trophy here on Sunday.

Dropped from the Indian team for the first two internationals against Pakistan, Karthick chose the final to stamp his authority, and when the chips were down. India Blue had lost skipper Virender Sehwag, Arjun Yadav and Ajinkya Rahane, when the dapper batsman first showed defiance and thereafter took charge of the proceedings.

Left hander Suresh Raina contributed with a swashbuckling half century and thereafter local boy Niraj Patel proved to be an ideal foil making an impressive 62 off 70 balls. The unbeaten fifth wicket pair added 168 runs and when the winning shot was struck, nine overs were still left.

Earlier, Praveen Kumar — a newcomer to the national squad — opening for India Red, saw his stumps bent back off the second ball he faced on a hot afternoon. The Uttar Pradesh allrounder has become a marked man less than 24 hours after his inclusion for the first two matches against Pakistan. Always a fine competitor, Joginder Sharma enjoyed the moment, going down on one knee and pumping his fist to celebrate the wicket.

Joginder won a leg before appeal soon after against Karan Goel to give the final a terrific start. But India Red recovered to make 269.

Great start

It has been a good weekend for India Blue and in particular for Sehwag. His team scored two wins and he himself had rattled off a fine half century on Saturday before his recall for the series against Pakistan. And, here in the first over of the title match, Joginder had bowled a champion opening over. He went wicketless in his next six overs, but leg spinner Amit Mishra, who has exploited the slow wicket better than Piyush Chawla, picked up three good wickets — Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli and Srikant Mundhe.

In spite of the setbacks, India Red managed to put up a competitive score, thanks to a fine batting exhibition by Gambhir (83) who, at the start, executed a pick-up shot to send Randadeb Bose over the on side fence and thereafter hammered seven fours. His tenure was crucial to India Red’s survival.

After Gambhir’s exit, S. Badrinath continued his good form in the competition, notching up a half century without even once hitting a boundary shot.

The scores: India Red: Praveen Kumar b Sharma 1, G. Gambhir c Sharma b Mishra 83, K. Goel lbw b Sharma 4, M. Kaif c Rahane b Bose 22, S. Badrinath lbw b Yomahesh 55, V. Kohli c & b Mishra 0, P. Patel lbw b Sehwag 0, M. Rawat (not out) 43, S. Mundhe st. Karthik b Mishra 18, P. Ojha c Sehwag b Yomahesh 20, S. Trivedi run out 5, Extras (lb-9, nb-1, w-8) 18; Total (in 49.3 overs) 269.

Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-11, 3-47, 4-158, 5-158, 6-159, 7-191, 8-219, 9-252.

India Blue bowling: Bose 10-0-53-1, Joginder Sharma 7-0-41-2, Yo Mahesh 9.3-0-56-2, Powar 8-0-35-0, Mishra 10-0-45-3, Sehwag 5-0-30-1.

India Blue: V. Sehwag c & b Mundhe 1, A. Rahane (run out) 20, A. Yadav (run out) 6, S. Raina b Trivedi 50, D. Karthick (not out) 116, N. Patel (not out) 62, Extras (lb-2, w-13) 15; Total (for four wickets in 41 overs) 270.

Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-22, 3-55, 4-102.

India Red bowling: Praveen Kumar 9-0-52-0, Mundhe 5-0-34-1, Trivedi 6-1-44-1, Ojha 9-0-60-0, Badrinath 2-0-17-0, P. Patel 7-0-36-0, Kaif 1-0-7-0, Goel 2-0-18-0.

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