ANANTAPUR: Half-centuries by skipper Mayank Agarwal and Pratam Singh helped India A reach 115 for one in their second innings, extending their control over India D after the second day’s play of the Duleep Trophy on Friday.
India A, who posted 290 in their first innings, earlier bowled out their opponents for 183, despite India batter Devdutt Padikkal's valiant knock of 92, to gain a lead of 107 runs.
Now, India A hold an advantage of 222 runs, with Agarwal (56, 87b, 8x4) and Pratam (59* batting, 82b, 6x4) leading the charge in the second innings. However, Agarwal, eager to make his way back into selectorial reckoning, will be kicking himself for falling on the last ball of the day to part-time spinner Shreyas Iyer, spooning a simple return catch.
Till that point, both Agarwal and Pratam played fluently, executing some stylish drives and cuts, maintaining a run-rate that never dropped below four.
However, that was just one part of India A's story of domination. Earlier, pacers Khaleel Ahmed and Aaqib Khan took three wickets each to rattle the India D line-up.
Only one of their batters, Devdutt, defied the consistent challenge of judgement, stroking his way to a 124-ball 92, which included 15 boundaries. The Karnataka left-hander, who made his Test debut earlier this year against England, was particularly harsh on deliveries on his pads or those bowled wide outside off-stump.
A century was within his reach, but the 24-year-old fell eight runs short, as his attempt to play a shot on the up off his state-mate Prasidh Krishna ended in a simple catch to stumper Kumar Kushagra.
Prasidh's figures of 11-4-30-1 may not fall under the ‘hallow-spell’ category, but it was an important step in his comeback journey. This match marked the pacer's first outing in competitive cricket since Karnataka's Ranji Trophy game against Gujarat in January, as he had been recovering from a quadricep injury.
Harshit Rana chipped in with a brisk 31 off 29 balls, including two back-to-back sixes off left-arm spinner Shams Mulani, but his effort was not enough for India D to close the gap with their rivals.
However, Rana could take some consolation, as he completed a four-wicket haul earlier in the day to bowl out India A for 290 in their first innings. Resuming from their overnight score of 288 for eight, India A lost both Mulani and Aaqib to Rana, who ended with figures of 4 for 51.
Brief scores:
India A: 290 all out and 115/1 in 28.1 overs (Mayank Agarwal 56, Pratam Singh 59* batting)
India D: 183 all out in 52.1 overs (Devdutt Padikkal 92, Harshit Rana 31; Khaleel Ahmed 3/39, Aaqib Khan 3/41).