It was a batter’s day in Anantapur. Heaps of runs were scored, especially by the openers in the second innings of the two matches. It was Pratham Singh and Mayank Agarwal in the India A vs D match while India B’s openers Abhimanyu Easwaran and N Jagadeesan troubled India C after they raked up 525 on the board. Before the openers even took the field, it was Devdutt Padikkal and Manav Suthar who dominated. Both missed out on impressive centuries by 8 and 18 runs, respectively.
Batter’s day out in Anantapur
After Harshit Rana had ended India D’s innings at 290, two quick wickets fell for India A. When Padikkal arrived in the middle, the score read 6/2. A small partnership with Yash Dubey helped the southpaw, but after he fell to a controversial decision, the fall of wickets from the other end didn’t stop. Ricky Bhui scored a handy 23 but they were 122/6 in 41 overs.
With the fear that he’d run out of partners, Devdutt Padikkal started to bat quickly. He entered the 90s, but in a bid to get to his hundred quickly, he perished. India D scored 183 runs, out of which 92 were from Padikkal’s bat. The highest run scorer after him was Harshit Rana, who scored a quick-fire 31.
In the other game (India B vs C), Manav Suthar took his past 500 with ease. When India C’s captain, Ruturaj Gaikwad, fell for 58, it looked like even 450 would be difficult to get. But Suthar guided them to 525 with the help of Mayank Markande, Anshul Kamboj and Sandeep Warrier. His 82 took India C from 382/6 to 525/10 and gave them a cushion as Warrier injured himself in just his second over later in the day.
In the bowling department, only India A’s pacers impressed. Khaleel Ahmed and Aaqib Khan were the best, as they claimed 3-fers against India D. Tanush Kotian got just one wicket but was the most economical of any bowler, giving away just 22 runs in 12 overs. Rahul Chahar got three wickets as well but went over 4.5 runs an over while doing so, and all of his wickets were of tailenders.
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