Skipper Abhimanyu Easwaran scored an unbeaten 157 in India B’s innings while pacer Anshul Kamboj (8-69) produced a career-best performance as the Duleep Trophy second round match between India B-India C ended in a draw at the Gramin Vikas Trust Stadium ‘B’ on Sunday.
With this result, India C got three points for taking a lead in the first innings and remains at the top of the standings. Resuming at 309/7 on the fourth day, India B were bowled out for 332, with Kamboj dismissing Rahul Chahar, Navdeep Saini and Mukesh Kumar early.
Easwaran remained unbeaten on 157 off 286 balls with the help of 14 fours and a six, becoming the seventh player to open the innings and remain unbeaten till the end in a Duleep Trophy match. But a lack of support from the other batsmen saw India B concede a 193-run lead in the first innings.
Kamboz, who hails from Haryana and has been picked by Mumbai Indians in IPL 2024, became the third pacer in Duleep Trophy history to take eight or more wickets in an innings of the tournament. His 8-69 is now the second-best performance by a pacer in the Duleep Trophy, behind former India player Debashish Mohanty’s 10-46.
India C lost B Sai Sudharsan in the second innings when he was dismissed by Mukesh for 11. Gaikwad and Rajat Patidar (42) put on 96 runs for the second wicket before Mushir Khan dismissed Rajat LBW. Leg-spinner Chahar dismissed first-innings centurion Ishan Kishan for just one run and had Gaikwad trapped LBW for 62 off 93 balls. Abhishek Porel and Baba Indrajit kept each other company before the match was decided to end in a draw.
Kamboj, who hails from Haryana and has been picked by Mumbai Indians in IPL 2024, became the third pacer in Duleep Trophy history to take eight or more wickets in an innings of the tournament. His 8-69 is now the second-best performance by a pacer in the Duleep Trophy, behind former India player Debashish Mohanty’s 10-46.
