Arshdeep Singh's six-wicket haul, Ricky Bhui and Sanju Samson's centuries and a counter-attacking fifty from Shreyas Iyer led India D to a huge win over India B in the third round of the Duleep Trophy 2024. Despite not being named in India's squads for the two Test matches against Bangladesh, left-arm pacer Arshdeep starred with a 6/40 in his team's 257-run win over India D at the Rural Development Trust Stadium B in Anantapur.
Arshdeep, who was one of the probables for the series against the Bangla Tigers, had missed out on a spot to another left-arm speedster Yash Dayal. His outings in the first two rounds did not help him either as he took only four wickets across four innings in the two games.
But the speedster got his act together in the third round as he took apart the opposition batting line-up. He took out three of the top seven batters and then came back to clean up the tail. India D were facing an uphill task of needing 373 runs in the fourth innings and were bowled out for just 115.
Centuries from Bhui, Samson lay platform
While Arshdeep was the star with the ball, Ricky Bhui and Sanju Samson had set the things with the bat. Bhui had hit a fifty in the first innings, while Samson made a blistering 106 from 101 balls. Devdutt Padikkal and Srikar Bharat also scored fifties as India D put up 349 in the first innings. Navdeep Saini starred with the ball as he picked up a fifer.
The Indian B team's reply fell reasonably short of the D team's. Despite Abhimanyu Easwaran's century, India B could muster only 282 in their first essay. Washington Sundar scored some crucial runs down the order as he made 87 from 140 balls. Left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar took a fifer in the innings.
In the second innings, Bhui backed his fifty with a century, making a quick-fire 119 from 124 balls. Captain Shreyas Iyer also scored a fiery fifty, smashing 50 from 40 deliveries. Samson, who hit a hundred in the first innings, made 45 as India D got to 305, handing a 373-run target to the B side which eventually proved to be more than enough.
With this win, India D opened their account in the final round, while India B failed to win the tournament. The Abhimanyu Easwaran-led team had a chance to win the title if they had beaten the Shreyas Iyer-led team and India C losing their clash against India A. But that did not materialize.
