Deodhar Trophy: Karthik's fighting knock goes in vain

New Delhi: Hanuma Vihari and left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem produced match-winning efforts to guide India ‘B’ to a 43-run win in their Deodhar Trophy opener, spoiling a fighting 99 from India ‘A’ captain Dinesh Karthik here on Tuesday.

Vihari made an unbeaten 87 off 95 balls and shared a 99-run stand for the fourth wicket with Manoj Tiwary (52 off 58) to guide India ‘B’ to 261 for eight after opting to bat.

Later, Nadeem, who opened the bowling, picked up three crucial wickets including that of Karthik (99 off 114) to tilt the game in his team’s favour, following a 123-run sixth wicket stand between the wicketkeeper batsman and R. Ashwin (54 off 76) kept India ‘A’ in the game at least till the 44th over. Nadeem ended with figures of three for 32 in 10 overs and got good support from leg-spinner Mayank Markande (4/48) and lead pacer Varun Aaron (2/45).

Chasing 262 in good batting conditions, India ‘A’ were dealt a double blow with Nadeem trapping Prithvi Shaw and Karun Nair off consecutive balls in the third over. While Nair’s LBW was a straightforward call, Shaw was unfortunate as it appeared that the teenage sensation had edged the ball before it struck his pads.

Shaw’s opening partner Anmolpreet Singh made a promising start but threw it away by pulling one straight to square leg off Deepak Chahar. Aaron, who was occasionally wayward, removed Ankeet Bawne and Krunal Pandya, leaving India ‘A’ at a precarious 87 for five in the 20th over.

That left a mountain to climb for skipper Karthik, who was running out of partners.