Duleep Trophy | India Blue on driver’s seat after Nikhil Gangta’s hundred

Duleep Trophy | India Blue on driver’s seat after Nikhil Gangta’s hundred

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Himachal Pradesh batsman Nikhil Gangta’s century has given India Blue an upper edge against India Red in the Duleep Trophy final at NPR College Ground in Dindigul. After India Blue piled up 541 runs in the first innings, the Reds were 27/1 in 10 overs when stumps were drawn on the second day.

Brief scores: India Blue 541 all out in 167.3 overs (Nikhil Gangta 130, Anmolpreet Singh 96, Swapnil Singh 69; Parvez Rasool 150/4, Mihir Hirwani 190/3) vs India Red 27/1 in 10 overs.

Overnight batsman Ricky Bhui was first to depart for the India Blue side when he was cleaned up by Ishan Porel for 60 and they were reduced to 284/6. Gangta then stitched together a partnership of 153 runs for the seventh wicket with Baroda spinner Swapnil Singh and steadied the ship for the Blues. Swapnil got out for 69 to Mihir Hirwani while Gangta went on to notch up his sixth first-class hundred. Gangta’s knock of 130 runs was studded with seven fours and six sixes before he became Rasool’s third victim when he handed over a low catch to opposition skipper Abhinav Mukund at mid-wicket.

With lower-order contributions of 36 and 24 from Saurabh Kumar and Jaydev Unadkat respectively, India Blue finished with a huge first innings total of 541. Parvez Rasool scalped four wickets for the Blues while Hirwani claimed three.

With a mammoth first innings total of 541 in mind, the Reds were off to a poor start as their captain was knocked out by Dhawal Kulkarni in the fourth over. A sharp in-swinging delivery beat the Tamil Nadu batsman’s defenses as he walked back into the pavilion for seven.

The Reds ended the day with the scorecard reading 27/1 in 10 overs. Bavanaka Sandeep and Sanjay Ramaswamy are the two unbeaten batsmen with scores of 11 and 9 on the pitch.

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