Duleep Trophy | J&K spinner Parvez Rasool shines for India Red as India Blue fight on

Brief scores: India Red 316 all out in 114.5 overs (Sanjay Ramaswamy 72, Siddesh Lad 88, B Aparajith 48, Saurabh Kumar 3 for 75, A Wakhare 3 for 76) vs India Blue 183 for 5 in 63 overs (Dhruv Shorey 86 batting, Ricky Bhui 41, Rajneesh Gurbani 2 for 12).

The second match of the Duleep Trophy took place at the NPR College Ground in Dindigul between India Blue and India Red. India Red won the toss and opted to bat first at Dindigul as the Blues took to the field with the new ball. The Reds put up a strong total of 316 in the first innings as Sanjay Ramaswamy (72) and Siddhesh Lad (88) starred for them.

Saurabh Kumar and Akshay Wakhare picked up three wickets each for the bowling team as IPL’s most expensive bowler - Jaydev Unadkat ended with figures 2/63 after the first innings. However, the Blues were in trouble early on in the second innings as they were reduced to 18/3. But Delhi batsman Dhruv Shorey put up a stunning partnership with Andhra batsman Ricky Bhui as the duo put on 112 runs for the fourth wicket in an enterprising display of batting.

But it was Jammu & Kashmir off-spinner, who is also the captain of the state team, who came through for India Red as he picked up four wickets in the first innings and was a constant threat to the Blue’s. Parvez ended the innings with figures of 36-3-107-4 was star with the ball for India as he first picked up the wicket of India Blue captain, Faiz Fazal and later removed the in-form Dhruv Shorey on 97. His other wickets were KS Bharat and Saurabh Kumar.

When India Red came out to bat again, it was Mumbai-lad Siddhesh Lad who was the pillar of support for the team as he continued to hold on with a score of 47 from 117 deliveries as skipper Abhinav Mukund bagged a half-century earlier in the innings. India Red currently lead by 179 on Day three at the NPR college ground.