Pant hits the right notes with sizzling fifty
Hits 47-ball 61 to help India B build sizeable lead versus India A in Bengaluru; Suthar takes 7 wickets in India C’s Anantapur win over India D
Kolkata: Rishabh Pant’s Saturday at Bengaluru felt anything but abnormal. Sixty-one from 47 balls at a strike rate of nearly 130 in a first-class match, that too after his side had been reduced to 22/3, can be comfortably labelled routine for Pant. Especially when the bar had already been set on the opening day when Pant gave two hoots about settling down just 10 balls into his first red-ball innings in two years. There is always an element of luck attached to this sort of bravado. While it didn’t pay off on Thursday, Pant’s unorthodoxy-on-steroids helped India B gain a massive 240-run lead against India A on the penultimate third day while assuring nothing has changed with Pant.
Same could be said about Sarfaraz Khan, who hit a 36-ball 46 while adding 72 runs with Pant in just over nine overs. They established their dominance and also gave a peek into an exciting left-right pair for India to mull in the coming Test season. Five consecutive fours off Akash Deep — the most disciplined fast bowler from both sides till that assault — was Sarfaraz’s way of showing off his range against pace before a swatted six off Khaleel Ahmed had the decent crowd at M Chinnaswamy Stadium asking for more. He was dismissed soon after but Pant was on demolition mode by then, fiercely cutting Kuldeep Yadav for four, drilling him past the non-striker for another boundary before dancing down the pitch to hoick him for six.
It was the kind of batting India D probably aspired for in Anantapur, at least from overnight batter Axar Patel, but he could add only 17 runs to his overnight score of 11 as they were dismissed for 236. Left-arm spinners may not be an immediate requirement for the India team right now, but if there is, Manav Suthar could be one of the first names to be discussed after finishing with an innings haul of 7/49.
Chasing 232 still could have been tricky, but India C’s top order got them off to a solid start with skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad (36), Aryan Juyal (47) and Rajat Patidar (44) ensuring there was always a partnership to fall back on. Gaikwad and Sai Sudharsan added 64 for the first wicket and Juyal and Patidar stitched an 88-run stand for the third wicket before Abhishek Porel played yet another mature knock (35* off 63 balls) to guide India C to a four-wicket victory.
Despite being six wickets down, India B have already garnered a sizeable lead that should challenge India A in the fourth innings chase at Bengaluru. And no one more than KL Rahul would like another opportunity to set things right after he flattered to deceive in the first innings. There were glimpses of his touch though. Like the boundary off Yash Dayal that he effortlessly flicked off the pads but there were also phases when Rahul didn’t seem to rotate the strike well.
With Riyan Parag playing his fair share of shots though, the duo still looked primed to take their team out of the hole. But 11 runs away from what could have been a vital hundred-run stand, Parag had the brain fade of edging Dayal down the leg side to Pant. Rahul continued to persevere but his vigil ended when he missed a paddle sweep off off-spinner Washington Sundar to be bowled around his legs.
