India B booked their place in the final of the D B Deodhar Trophy with a seven-run victory over Gujarat. Having won the tournament opener against India A, India B registered their second win to top the table. Gujarat will now meet India A in the virtual semifinal on Wednesday with the winner advancing to the final to be played on Friday.
India B captain Unmukt Chand struck his second successive List A fifty and middle-order batsman Suryakumar Yadav made 47 from 51 balls to guide India B to a competitive 280/5 after being asked to bat first. India B bowlers, despite a counter-attacking century from Chirag Gandhi, held their nerves to bag full points.
Needing 46 from 24 balls with just one wicket in hand, Gujarat’s Chirag Gandhi smashed three fours in Nathu Singh’s over to bring the equation down to 32 from 18. He then attacked Dhawal Kulkarni for two fours as Gujarat sensed as unlikely victory with 15 to get in the final over.
Chirag hit the first ball off the final over by Suryakumar for six as the opposition began to panic. A single on the second ball helped Chirag complete his well-earned century, but it meant that last man Hardik Patel was in the firing line. The No. 11 scampered for a single, but a direct hit from Shreyas Iyer dashed Gujarat’s hopes. Chirag, remained unbeaten on 100 but Gujarat fell short by seven runs with three balls still left in the over.
For India B, Kulkarni,was once again highly economical. The Mumbai bowler who gave away just nine runs from his seven overs in the first game, bowled three maiden overs and conceded just 21 runs from 10 overs. Bowling with the new ball, he castled opener Dhwanil Patel for five and then dismissed one-drop Raxlee Taylor for just two runs as Gujarat were reduced to 36/2.
Leading the side in absence of Parthiv Patel, Manpreet Juneja struck fifty in 48 balls and shared a 78-run stand for the fourth wicket with Rujul Bhatt. However, Gujarat’s recovery was stalled when Karn Sharma caught Juenja off his own bowling. Juneja had hit two sixes earlier, but lost his wicket while looking for the third big hit of the over. Karn picked his second wicket when Rujul was stumped by Dinesh Karthik as Gujarat lost their fifth wicket for 148. It was against this backdrop that young Gandhi began his counter-attacking knock that almost sealed the game for Gujarat.
Brief score: India B (Unmukt Chand 63, Suryakumar Yadav, 47, Mehul Patel 3/69) beat Guj 273/10 (Chirag Ganhi 100 not out, Dhawal Kulkarni 2/21)
