Mayank, Gill tons and Saxena 7-fer sink India A November 01 2019

[Torrent Disney]

Shubman Gill and Mayank Agarwal's centuries, garnished by a 29-ball unbeaten 72 from Suryakumar Yadav, and Jajal Saxena's seven-for helped India C to a massive 232-run victory over India A in Ranchi on Friday (November 1).

After opting to bat, Gill walked out with his opening partner Agarwal and together the duo put on a 226-run stand to thoroughly frustrate the India A bowlers for breakthrough. Agarwal was the more attacking of the two, striking consistently at over 90, and raised his century in the 34th over with a fine leg boundary, off just 96 deliveries. Gill picked up pace from there on, and went to raise his hundred in the same over as Hanuma Vhari got his team the first wicket since morning. Agarwal fell for 120, having hit 15 boundaries and a six in his 111-ball effort.

Priyam Garg, walking in at No. 3, took on Ravi Bishnoi and hit him for a six and four before the bowler had his revenge in the same over. However, India A failed to capitalise on the two wickets in quick succession, allowing Suryakumar Yadav to build two vital partnerships that set up India C for a massive score. Gill, who'd switched gears after his century, toyed with the A bowlers before Ashwin denied him a 150. The India C captain fell just seven short of the landmark, having scored a a142-ball 143 laced with half a dozen sixes and 10 boundaries.

However, there was no respite for the A bowlers as Suryakumar went berserk. From 17 off 15 at the end of 47th over, the Mumbai batsman hit seven fours and four sixes to finish with an unbeaten 72. He raised his half-century off just 24, and his 29-ball show helped C to a massive 366 from their allotted overs.

India A had a forgettable start to the chase, losing three of their top-four for just 17 runs on the board, inside four overs, with Ishan Porel claiming two and Dhawal Kulkarni sending back Vishnu Vinod. Devdutt Padikkal and Bhargav Merai offered some resistance with a 54-run partnership for the fourth wicket. And from there on, Saxena took over, claiming all the remaining seven wickets.

The duo fell two runs apart, and Saxena went on to complete his five-for with the wicket of Ishan Kishan. From 74 for 3, India A slipped to 134 all out in the 30th over, giving C a big win to jump to the top of the points table. Winless after 2 games, India A have therefore been knocked out of the tournament with the other two teams progressing to the final.

Brief scores: India C 366/3 in 50 overs (Shubhman Gill 143, Mayank Agarwal 120, Suryakumar Yadav 72*; R Ashwin 1-57) beat India A 134 all out in 29.5 overs (Bhargav Merai 30, Ishan Kishan 25; Jalaj Saxena 7-41) by 232 runs.