India A rode on an excellent opening partnership between half centurions Mayank Agarwal (56) and Pratham Singh (59 not out) to reach 115 /1 and more importantly extended their overall lead to 222 runs at stumps on the second day of the Duleep Trophy Round 2 match against India D at the Rural Development Trust Stadium, Anantapur on Friday.

On a day where 13 wickets fell, Agarwal led India A’s dominance with a crafty 87-ball half century before being dismissed on the final ball of the day by his opposite number Shreyas Iyer. At the other end, Pratham fired six boundaries before heading undefeated after consuming 82 deliveries. Earlier in the morning session, India A resumed their first innings at 288/8 but lost the remaining two wickets to Harshit Rana with the addition of just two runs to their score. Rana, thus was the most successful bowler from the India D side with four wickets under his belt.

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In response, India D lost wickets in heaps before a valiant 92 from Devdutt Padikkal coupled with handy contributions from Ricky Bhui (23) and Harshit (31) helped them reach 183. Khaleel Ahmed and Aaqib Khan were the main wicket-takers for India A with three wickets apiece even as Prasidh Krishna, Tanush Kotian and Shams Mulani picked a wicket each.

Coming in at the fall of Shreyas Iyer for a duck, and with India D struggling at 6 for 2, Padikkal held one end firm and anchored the rebuilding work with a crucial 44-run fifth wicket stand with Bhui before Rana wielded his shield for four boundaries and two sixes to help the side cut the first innings deficit to 107 runs.

Brief Scores: India A 290 & 115/1 (Mayank Agarwal 56, Pratham Singh 59; Shreyas Iyer 1/0) vs India D 183 (Devdutt Padikkal 92, Harshit Rana 31; Khaleel Ahmed 3/39, Aaqib Khan 3/41)

Easwaran, Jagadeesan help India C to promising start against India B

Abhimanyu Easwaran and Narayan Jagadeesan came up with undefeated fifties to provide India C a solid start as they ended the second day’s play at 124 for no loss in reply to India B’s mammoth first innings total of 525 at the Rural Development Trust Stadium B, Ananthapur on Friday.

Easwaran (51 out out) and Jagadeesan (67 not out) batted out the 36 overs before stumps without any hiccups even as India B employed as many as five bowlers during the phase.

Earlier, resuming the day at 357/5, skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad and Manav Suthar frustrated the India C bowlers as the duo went on to complete their respective half centuries, and in the process stretched their sixth wicket partnership to 37 runs before Gaikwad was cleaned up by Mukesh Kumar after the right-hander consumed 74 deliveries for his 58.

Manav, however, continued his merry in the middle, and ensured India B got to the massive 500-plus total with a whirlwind innings that saw him blasting as many as 11 boundaries and three mammoth sixes. Besides the 37-run stand with Gaikwad, Manav was involved in a couple of other crucial partnerships — 55 runs for the eighth wicket with Anshul Kamboj (38), 28 runs for the ninth wicket with Vijaykumar Vyshak (12) and 36 runs for the final wicket with Sandeep Warrier (11 not out) that powered India B to the monstrous total.

Leg-spinner Rahul Chahar, who took the crucial wicket of Baba Indrajith on the opening day, came back to clean up the India B lower order with the wickets of Kamboj and Vyshak before ending Manav Suthar’s vigil of 156 balls, producing a classy 82. Mukesh Kumar also chipped in with four wickets while Nitish Kumar Reddy and Navdeep Saini took the remaining two wickets.

Brief Scores: India C 525 (Ishan Kishan 111, Manav Suthar 82, Baba Indrajith 78, Ruturaj Gaikwad 58; Mukesh Kumar 4/126, Rahul Chahar 4/73) vs India B 124/0 (Abhimanyu Easwaran 51 not out, Narayan Jagadeesan 67 not out)