A brilliant 155 from Murali Vijay and some impressive batting from Cheteshwar Pujara helped India ‘B’ beat India ‘A’ in the finals of the NKP Salve Challenger Trophy played at Khanderi Stadium, says a report in The DNA.
India A's Shikhar Dhawan (61) and Ajinkya Rahane (64) made valiant attempts to get India ‘A’ team past the line but the team could only manage 217 runs in the end.
Baba Aparajith accompanied Vijay to face the new ball. The opening pair strung together a 68-run stand, after the fall of Aparajith’s wicket, Pujara came in to bat. The Saurashtra batsman took time to settle in before increasing his scoring rate. And just when it looked like he’d score his third consecutive century, Parwinder Awana dismissed him for 79. Vijay on the other end, reached the three-figure mark in 94 balls with 10 boundaries and three sixes.
Meanwhile, The Hindu reports that Ishant Sharma went for 58 runs and could not manage to pick up a wicket.
Brief scores:
India ‘B’ 356/3 in 50 overs (M Vijay 155, C Pujara 79*, K Jadhav 60*)
India ‘A’ 217 all out in 42.1 overs (A Rahane 64, S Dhawan 61; S Binny 3/26, R Jadeja 2/37, B Aparajith 2/38)