Duleep Trophy: India C nose ahead of India D despite Axar’s all-round efforts

Anantapur: After bowlers called the shots which resulted in 14 wickets falling in a single day, India C managed to nose just ahead of India D at the end of Day One of the Duleep Trophy first-round game at the Rural Development Trust ground here on Thursday. Pushed into batting first, India D found themselves in trouble at 76/8, till Axar Patel stepped up to hit a counter-attacking 86 as the team made 164 in their first innings, with the next highest score being just 13.

In reply, Axar and Harshit Rana took two wickets each to leave India C at 91/4, and trail by 73 runs.

Bowling first on a spicy pitch and overhead skies, India C got early cheers as Anshul Kamboj dismissed Atharva Taide in the very first over of the match. Vijaykumar Vyshak struck twice in the sixth over by dismissing Shreyas Iyer and Devdutt Padikkal in quick succession. From there, Yash Dubey, Ricky Bhui, K.S. Bharat, Saransh Jain and Rana fell without doing much as India D were in real danger of being bowled out for a low total.

Axar, who was seeing the procession happen from the other end, weathered the early storm before launching his counter-attack by targeting Chahuan for boundaries.

Using his long levers, Axar was severe in dispatching spinners for boundaries – like clobbering Manav Suthar for three consecutive boundaries, followed by hitting Hrithik Shokeen for successive sixes.

Axar also shared an 84-run partnership for the ninth wicket with Arshdeep Singh, before becoming the last wicket to fall for India D, as he was dismissed for 86, laced with six fours and as many sixes.

In reply, Rana struck for India D by dismissing Ruturaj Gaikwad and B. Sai Sudharsan in successive overs. Aryan Juyal and Rajat Patidar managed to hang around for a brief period but Axar had the former dismissed via caught and bowled in just his second over before castling the latter to leave India C at 43/4.

A vital 48-run partnership between an impressive Abishek Porel (32 not out) and a watchful Baba Indrajith (15 not out) ensured India C didn’t suffer any more setbacks on day one of an eventful day at Anantapur.

Brief scores:

India D 164 in 48.3 overs (Axar Patel 86; Vijaykumar Vyshak 3-19, Himanshu Chauhan 2-22) lead India C 91/4 in 33 overs (Abishek Porel 32 not out; Harshit Rana 2-13, Axar Patel 2-16) by 73 runs