Nagpur, Oct 13: The 2011 NKP Salve Challenger Trophy final between India Green and India Red ended in a tied result. This, after a dazzling innings of 92 from Piyush Chawla helped India Red recover from a disastrous start to their innings and match India Green’s score of 238.
It was India Green who batted first in this thrilling encounter. The Greens top order struggled to get going as Robin Uthappa (7) and Ishank Jaggi (11) fell early in the innings to left-arm pacer Jaydev Unadkat. S Anirudha (39) and Mohammad Kaif (41) were able to get starts but failed to convert them into bigger scores. And when wicketkeeper-batsman CM Gautam (6) was trapped lbw by TP Sudhindra with the India Green score at 151 for six, it appeared that India Red might have a sub-200 score to chase down.
That didn’t turn out to be the case as Harabhajan Singh, like he has done through most of his international career, played the rescue act, striking an unbeaten 49 off just 54 deliveries to take India Green to 238 for eight in 50 overs.
Harbhajan then put the Reds under more pressure as he combined with Abhimanyu Mithun to make inroads into the Reds’ batting order. Abhinav Mukund (37), Ambati Rayudu (25) and Ashok Menaria (21) all fell to Harbhajan while Shikhar Dhawan (1) and Yusuf Pathan (8) were Mithun’s first two wickets of the evening. At 102 for five, the Reds were clear favourites to win the final.
But Piyush Chawla, batting at no. 7, struck small but significant partnerships with the tail to whittle down the target. Then with the Reds still having a wicket in hand and needing 17 off the last over (bowled by Samad Fallah), followed by 14 required off the last four balls, Chawla struck a four, ran a two and hit a six to give India Red the edge. However, with two required off the last delivery, Fallah bowled a wide down the leg side. The non-striker, Unadkat, declined the single but Chawla had charged across to the bowler's end, allowing CM Gautam to break the stumps and tie the game.
Brief Scores: India Green 238 for 8 (Harbhajan Singh 49*, Mohammad Kaif 41, TP Sudhindra 2/38) tied with India Red 238 (Piyush Chawla 92, Harbhajan 3-37, Abdulla 3-37)
