India Red pacer Jaydev Unadkat exploited helpful conditions to the fullest to pin India Green down to 147 for eight on a rain-affected first day of their Duleep Trophy final at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Wednesday.
Through a lovely exhibition of swing bowling under overcast skies, Unadkat recorded figures of four for 58. The Saurashtra left-arm fast bowler moved the ball both ways, and created awkward angles from around the stumps.
Unadkat got going by trapping opener and captain Faiz Fazal (12, 22b) leg-before with one that came back in sharply. Siddhesh Lad fell for a golden duck, a loose drive going straight to the hands of Priyank Panchal at cover. Unadkat reserved his best for four-drop Akshay Wadkar (6), getting a length delivery from over the wicket to straighten and hit the middle stump. Tailender Rajesh Mohanty was his fourth victim, nicking one to wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan.
A pleased Unadkat stated, “I can move the ball both ways, and when you can do that from over and around the wicket, it makes it all the more difficult for batsmen. That’s what I work on in the nets — to be accurate from both angles.”
A beauty
For India Green, Akshath Reddy (16, 56b) and Dhruv Shorey (23, 37b) put on 34 runs for the second wicket, before Shorey came undone to a beauty from Sandeep Warrier. Kerala speedster Warrier got Shorey to edge a perfect outswinger — moving away from just outside off. The impressive Warrier was unlucky to end up with just the one scalp.
Akshath, meanwhile, drove Unadkat straight to Avesh Khan at mid-on, and senselessly took off for a single. His partner Akshdeep Nath did not respond, leaving Akshath stranded. Avesh had enough time to wait for Kishan to come up to the stumps before lobbing an underarm throw.
Akshdeep (29, 46b, 5x4) played well, but let his side down with poor shot selection. Nath tried to smack left-arm spinner Aditya Sarvate over the top, only to chip it to Panchal at mid-wicket. Mayank Markande (32 batting, 51b, 2x4) was fluent, while Tanveer Ul-Haq (8 batting) kept him safe company.
Intermittent showers restricted play to only 49 overs for the day. After five delays, action was called off in the late evening.
The scores: India Green — 1st innings: Faiz Fazal lbw b Unadkat 12, Akshath Reddy (run out) 16, Dhruv Shorey c Kishan b Warrier 23, Siddhesh Lad c Panchal b Unadkat 0, Akshdeep Nath c Panchal b Sarvate 29, Akshay Wadkar b Unadkat 6, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja c & b Avesh 15, Mayank Markande (batting) 32, Rajesh Mohanty c Kishan b Unadkat 0, Tanveer Ul-Haq (batting) 8; Extras (nb-1, b-4, lb-1): 6; Total (for eight wickets in 49 overs): 147.
Fall of wickets: 1-19, 2-53, 3-54, 4-65, 5-92, 6-99, 7-107, 8-112.
India Red bowling: Unadkat 18-1-58-4, Warrier 13-3-25-1, Avesh 12-0-45-1, Sarvate 6-1-14-1.
Toss: India Green.