27 September,2017 08:42 AM IST | Lucknow | Santosh Suri
When India Blue began their innings, Red skipper Dinesh Karthik chose to open the bowling with Mumbai left-arm spinner Vijay Gohil it gave the indication of things to come
When India Blue began their innings, Red skipper Dinesh Karthik chose to open the bowling with Mumbai left-arm spinner Vijay Gohil it gave the indication of things to come. The young Mumbai bowler did not disappoint as he picked up three early wickets to put the Blues batsmen on the back foot. At the other end off spinner Sunder had Suresh Raina brilliantly stumped by Karthik, a close decision made by third umpire on referral.
With the spinners making good use of the turning track and claiming wicket after wicket, it remains to be seen if India Blue now have the gumption to put up stiff resistance and stay in the game in this five-day Duleep Trophy final. Gohil has bowled with guile, showing a lot of promise. With a lot of cricket to be played in this match, he has a good opportunity to enhance his reputation and lead his team to a well-deserved title win.
Vijay Gohil and W Sunder
Red flourish
Earlier, despite the Ekana stadium pitch giving the impression of being a turning track, the India Red batsmen continued to flourish, posting a healthy 483. After the centuries by Prithvi Shaw and Karthik on the opening day it was the turn of Tamil Nadu all-rounder Washington Sunder to consolidate on the effort of the two centurions. Washington played an attacking innings when he saw wickets falling at the other end and played some daring strokes, including a straight six off left-arm paceman Jaydev Unadkat. He was also severe on spinners Bhargav Bhatt and Akshay Wakhare. With the last man Basil Thumpi as his partner, he made desperate attempt to get to his century, but holed out at the covers off Wakhare when 12 runs short of the coveted mark.
Slow-paced game
However, the talking point for the second successive day was the slow overrate, with the teams struggling to complete the quota of 90 overs. On the first day, despite the game being extended for 45 minutes after the scheduled close, India Blue had managed only 83.3 overs. But still they did not come in for any sanctions as there had been as many as 30 stoppages of play for various reasons, including repairing the bowlers' foot marks on the pitch, unscheduled drinks breaks, injury breaks and fogging for insects.
There were, however, fewer stoppages on the second day as umpires were a bit stern. Yet, despite another extension of 45 minutes, the quota of overs remained incomplete.
