Duleep Trophy | Anmolpreet Singh, Ricky Bhui help India Blue recover against Red on day 1
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India Blue batsmen Anmolpreet Singh and Ricky Bhui stitched together 144 runs for the fifth wicket to take them to a stable position of 260/5 at the end of the first day of Duleep Trophy final against India Red at Dindigul. While Anmolpreet got out for 96, Bhui remained unbeaten on 53.
Brief scores: India Blue 260/5 (Anmolpreet Singh 96, Ricky Bhui 53*; Parvez Rasool 2-65, Prasidh Krishna 2-49) vs India Red.
Skipper Faiz Fazal and Smit Patel started off sensibly after opting to bat first and added 50 runs for the opening wicket. Parvez Rasool first trapped Patel for 22 runs in the 14th over, following which leg-spinner Mihir Hirwani got rid of the opposition skipper for 32 three overs later. While Dhruv Shorey and Deepak Hooda also got starts but they were unable to convert those into something substantial. Shorey was picked up by Prasidh Krishna for 18 and Hooda soon followed him after scoring 26 by becoming the second victim of Rasool.
Losing wickets at regular intervals, the Blues were in a spot of bother at 107/4 when Anmolpreet and Bhui combined together for the fifth wicket. While Bhui tried to spend more time at the crease, Anmolpreet played some good shots all around the ground. His 96-run innings off 147 balls included 14 fours and one hit over the ropes.
With three overs remaining in the day's play, Anmolpreet was picked up by Krishna while Bhui remained not out along with Nikhil Gangta after completing his fifty. Krishna and Rasool claimed two wickets each while Hirwani picked up one in the first day of the Duleep Trophy final.
