Ruturaj Gaikwad's India C edged past Shreyas Iyer-led India D in a low-scoring thriller at the Rural Development Trust Stadium in Anantapur. On a pitch which offered assistance for both the batters and the bowlers, India C chased down 233 with four wickets in hand.
Abishek Porel held his composure to drive his team home after jitters in their run-chase. They were cruising well at 165/2 with Rajat Patidar and Aryan Juyal well set but Saransh Jain, who had taken out both the openers before, got two more wickets to add spice to the contest. Arshdeep Singh and Axar Patel got a wicket each as the match swung on its pendulum. Off-spinner Saransh Jain gave them hope with his four wickets but his effort went in vain.
The third day began with India D holding their noses ahead of their C teammates. They were at 206/8 at the start of the third day with Axar Patel in the middle on 11. However, the all-rounder Axar, who was the saviour in the first innings, could accumulate 16 more runs before falling to the second-innings destructor Manav Suthar on 27.
The team added only 30 runs to their overnight total. Left-arm finger spinner Manav was the star in the second innings as he took seven wickets for 49 runs in his 19.1 overs. Earlier in India D's second innings, Test probable Shreyas Iyer and Devdutt Padikkal hit the fifties to take the team to 236.
India C had won the toss and put their D teammates to bat first. India D managed to make 164 on the back of Axar Patel's brilliant knock of 86 from 118 balls. The pacers wreaked havoc with Vijaykumar Vyshak, Anshul Kamboj and Himanshu Chauhan sharing seven wickets.
India C replied well, scoring 168 but could not get a substantiated lead. Baba Indrajith hit 72, while Abishek Porel was the next highest-run scorer, making 34. For India D, Harshit Rana scalped four wickets, while Axar and Saransh picked two wickets each.
