Deodhar Trophy: Vihari's heroics guide India B in the finals

Hanuma Vihari played the anchor to register a 30-run win over India C on Wednesday

Nobody expected them to do well; the sheer lack of star power in their ranks almost made India B rank outsiders in this Deodhar Trophy. But two days into the tournament, they are the first team in the finals, fending the stars in the other two sides to fight amongst themselves for the second berth. India B showed the art of batting on a dodgy Kotla pitch, resurrecting the innings from mid over slump and the spirit of defending modest totals with great zeal.

India B virtually repeated yesterday’s showreel — right from Shreyas Iyer winning the toss to Vihari playing the anchor to bowlers squeezing the prized wickets of some famed batsmen — to register a 30-run win over India C on Wednesday. 

Ajinkya Rahane walked in to start the chase of 232 but struggled all along to time the ball or find the gaps in his 32, eating 61 deliveries while R Samarth got a nasty chin-up delivery to end his innings. Suresh Raina walked into great cheer but failed to negotiate the slowness of the pitch to fall cheaply. Shubman Gill played a brief part with his 32 but Surya Kumar Yadav, Vijay Shankar and Ishan Kishan all perished trying to get the innings moving.

Part-timers Manoj Tiwary, bowling off-break, got three while Shreyas Iyer with leg-breaks managed to nab Shankar. Regular spinners Krishnappa Gowtham picked up three while Shahbaz Nadeem went extremely economical –29 from 10 overs – but returned wicketless.

Washington Sundar hung in deep and Navdeep Saini looked happier with the bat in hand to push the game towards the final overs but fell short.  Navdeep fell for 18 and Sundar was the last man out for 19 as India C was all out for 201.

If the bowlers stuck to their tasks, the batsmen just about managed to stick to their brief. 

Sudden smog engulfed Kotla briefly put a haze around India B innings that coincided with a flurry of wickets in the middle order. Vihari saw through that dark passage of play to set up another stoic innings of 76 from 94 deliveries, as India B, despite playing an extra batsman in the XI, failed to negotiate the nagging stump-to-stump line of the India C bowlers and the debatable health of the Kotla pitch. Vihari scored his second straight half-century in as many days but was equally unlucky to have missed his century twice over. Today, Vihari had more overs to spare in his leisurely knock but was adjudged caught behind that neither wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan nor fielders or umpires believed as much as the third umpire after seeing the replays.

Vihari put on small partnerships — 32 with Manoj Tiwary, 60 run stand with Ankush Bains after Mayank Aggarwal, Prashant Chopra and skipper Shreyas Iyer perished in their endeavour to make the hard new ball count on this pitch. Rajneesh Gurbani and Pappu Roy got three wickets each but the latter was more deserving for his efforts in the middle overs.