Duleep trophy | Mayank Agarwal drives India Blue into commanding position
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In the virtual knock-out match of the Duleep trophy 2016, India Blue took a commanding position of 336/3 at the end of Day 1. Mayank Agarwal and Gautam Gambhir put in a solid opening stand of 212 runs to lay the perfect foundation for Blue to launch an entry into the final of the Trophy.
The final league match between India Blue and Green had assumed more significance after the incessant rains had played spoilsport earlier in the tournament - a place in the final was at stake. Blue hit the first stroke as skipper Gautam Gambhir called it right and chose to bat first on a wicket which was looking like a batsman’s paradise. The opening duo of Gambhir and Mayank Agarwal started taking on the Green bowlers with supreme authority. With the wicket having not much to offer, international pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Ashoke Dinda seemed hapless.
The openers seemed to be in terrific touch by playing all around the ground. While Gambhir was a little bit rusty, Agarwal smashed every bowler throughout the day. By pulling his fellow state mate Shreyas Gopal, Agarwal completed his second first-class century in style.
A bit of misunderstanding between both of the openers resulted in Gambhir getting run out for 90. The Delhi opener couldn’t complete his century but caught the attention again with his consecutive superb bating displays.
Karnataka batsman Mayank Agarwal continued his good work with the willow with Cheteshwar Pujara for company. The bowlers tried intimidating Pujara by bowling short, time and again, but Pujara was solid as ever and didn’t give any quarter to the opposition. He batted positively and brought up his fifty with two consecutive boundaries off Pragyan Ojha.
Meanwhile, Mayank Agarwal, trying to pull Dinda, found Ankit Rajpoot at backward square leg to end a brilliant innings of 161 runs. The batsman, who was trapped on a no-ball earlier in his innings, had taken the full profit of that life and notched up his career-best score in first class cricket.
Siddesh Lad, who followed in, couldn’t add more than one run to the team tally and was dismissed by Jasprit Bumrah. When the day ended, Night-Watchman Abhimanyu Mithun and Cheteshwar Pujara were batting at 4 and 63 not out respectively to keep Blue in place for a continued assault at the final spot.
