Deodhar Trophy: Ton-up Shubman Gill powers India C into final after Rahane flops

When Shubman Gill came out to bat after India C skipper Ajinkya Rahane’s dismissal, the focus was less on how the 19-year-old would fare and more on another failure for the India star; it may have ended the 30-year-old’s hopes of returning to the ODI fold anytime soon.

Gill, one of the key performers in India’s U-19 World Cup win this year, underlined his calibre as his unbeaten 106 – fourth List A century — guided India C to the Deodhar Trophy final with a six-wicket win over India A at the Ferozeshah Kotla here on Thursday. India C will face India B, led by Shreyas Iyer, on Saturday.

At 85/3 chasing 294 with Rahane (14), Abhinav Mukund (37) and Suresh Raina (2) out, and Prithvi Shaw unavailable due to an injury to his right hand suffered against India B, things were tricky for India C as no side had successfully chased in the tournament. But Gill and former India U-19 skipper Ishan Kishan took their chances, adding 121 runs in 17.2 overs. Kishan was the more aggressive between the two. He targeted Mohammad Siraj – hitting three consecutive boundaries off the Hyderabad pace bowler’s second over.

Kishan scored 69 off 60 deliveries, including 11 fours, before being trapped in front by R Ashwin. Gill then added an unbroken 90-run partnership with Suryakumar Yadav, who smashed a 36-ball 56, to see his side through with 18 balls to spare. Ashwin was the best India A bowler, returning 1/46.

Rahane, Raina fail again

With India still in search of No 4 and 5 for the next year’s World Cup, Rahane and Raina had a great opportunity to press their claim, starting with the remaining three ODIs against West Indies. In two games here, Rahane managed 56 runs while Raina didn’t even cross the double-figure mark.

Like India B’s ploy to introduce a spinner (Shahbaz Nadeem) against Rahane early on, India A skipper Dinesh Karthik started the proceedings with Ashwin. Only nine runs were scored off the first five overs, of which three were bowled by Ashwin.

In a bid to up the scoring rate, Rahane charged down the track to pace bowler Dhawal Kulkarni, only for his Mumbai team-mate to take a sharp catch on his follow through.

Raina, in at No. 4, was targeted by Siddarth Kaul with a couple of short deliveries before Anmolpreet Singh’s excellence in the field found the 31-year-old just short at the striker’s end.

Rana, Anmolpreet shine

Earlier, the top three India A batsmen – Anmolpreet Singh (59), Abhimanyu Easwaran (69) and Nitish Rana (68) -- set the platform for the experienced Karthik and Kedar Jadhav to score quickly and register 293/6, the highest total in the tournament so far.

While Karthik scored 32 off 23 balls, Jadhav – he played his first match since suffering a hamstring injury in the Asia Cup final last month – remained unbeaten on 41 off 25.

Tamil Nadu all-rounder Vijay Shankar (3/40) was the most impressive India C bowler and his scalps towards the end restricted India A from getting to 300.

Brief Scores:

India A 293/6 in 50 overs (A Easwaran 69, N Rana 68, V Shankar 3/40) lost to India C 296/4 in 47 overs (S Gill 106*, I Kishan 69, S Yadav 56*) by six wickets.

First Published: Oct 25, 2018 18:58 IST