Anantapur, Sep 6
Left-arm spinner Manav Suthar used the rough well to pick his fourth five-wicket haul in first-class cricket to lead India C's fightback after half-centuries from captain Shreyas Iyer and Devdutt Padikkal took India D to 206/8, extending their lead to 202 runs at stumps on Day Two of Duleep Trophy first round match on Friday.
After 14 wickets fell on Day One of the game at the Rural Development Trust (RDT) ground, Friday saw three batters get half-centuries. Before Iyer and Padikkal, Baba Indrajith top-scored with a gritty 72, laced with nine boundaries, to get India C a slender four-run lead.
Resuming from India C at 91/4, pacer Harshit Rana brought early cheers to India D by trapping Abishek Porel lbw and dismissing Suthar in quick succession. Soon, India D were reduced to 108/8, but Indrajith's grit and determination to play a fighting knock helped the side get past India C's total of 164.
He also stitched a stand of 51 runs with Anshul Kamboj before becoming the last batter to fall for India D as their innings came to an end on 168. India D were rocked early in their second innings as Yash Dubey and Atharva Taide were dismissed by Vijaykumar Vyshak inside the first six overs.
Iyer, who fell cheaply in the first innings, got going with a crunching drive to get off the mark and slogged Vyshak for six. After a couple of boundaries, Iyer slowed down, before smashing four boundaries off Himanshu Chauhan. On the other hand, Padikkal was sedate and seeing Iyer take on the bowlers' from the other end.
Shortly after Iyer brought up his fifty in 39 balls, his knock came to an end on 54 against Chauhan. Once Iyer fell, Padikkal shifted gears by hitting Vyshak for three boundaries and eventually got his half-century in 63 deliveries. But like Iyer, Padikkal couldn't make it big and was caught out by Suthar.
From there, it was all the way a Suthar show as he took out Ricky Bhui, K.S. Bharat, Saransh Jain and Arshdeep Singh to complete a stunning five-wicket haul.
As the day came to a close, India D will be hoping Axar Patel, who is unbeaten on 11, will get support from Harshit Rana and followed by Aditya Thakare to swell the lead beyond 250.
Brief scores:
India D 164 and 206/8 in 49 overs (Devdutt Padikkal 56, Shreyas Iyer 54; Manav Suthar 5-30, Vijaykumar Vyshak 2-51) lead India C 168 in 62.2 overs (Baba Indrajith 72, Abishek Porel 34; Harshit Rana 4-33, Saransh Jain 2-16) by 202 runs