With a thumping nine-wicket win against India Green, India Red lifted the Under 19 Challenger Trophy in Bilaspur. After a delayed toss and the match being reduced to 45 overs per side due to bad weather, the Abhishek Sharma-led team bundled the opposition out for 129. The captain and A Jamwal claimed three wickets each to set-up the game for their team. Shubman Gill (62*) and A Wakode (60*) then chased down the target in little over 25 overs to register a resounding win.
With all three teams – India Red, India Green and India Blue winning one and losing one in the league phase of the tournament the finalists were decided on the basis of the net run rate. India Green topped the chart at the end of the first phase while India Red were placed second in the list.
In the final on October 29, Abhishek won the toss and elected to field in the all-important game for the title. R Bhagat accounted for Rohan Kunnummal with 13 runs on the board while Simarjeet Singh bowled JK Singh to leave India Green on 28 for two. The top run-getter of the tournament in the league phase, Priyam Garg then joined Chandan Sahani in the middle in an effort to build a platform for a solid total. However, 25 runs later, Bhagat struck again to end the partnership with wicket of the No 4 batsman.
Sandeep Kumar then joined Sahani in the middle, but a while later Jamwal claimed the former to leave India Green on 100 for four and in his next accounted for the No 3 batsman. Couple of overs later R Chahar sent back skipper Anukul Roy for a duck and Jamwal followed up with the wicket of A Usmani to leave the opposition reeling on 106 for seven.
Abhishek then claimed the remaining three wickets to bowl India Green out in 31.3 overs.
Chasing the sub-par target, India Red lost Ankur Paul in the first over. However, Gill and Wakode attained the target with ease.
During his unbeaten 68-ball knock, Gill slammed 12 boundaries en route to his 62 runs while Wakode hit nine boundaries and a six during his 78-ball stay at the crease for 60 not out.
Brief scores: India Green 129/10 in 31.3 overs (C Shahani 36, A Sharma 3/6, A Jamwal 3/12) lost to India Red 131/1 in 25.2 overs (S Gill 62*, A Wakode 60*, S Singh 1/28) by 9 wickets
