Pujara ton leaves India Blue in command

India Blue 362 for 3 (Pujara 111*, Gambhir 94, Agarwal 57, Karthik 55*, Binny 1-54) v India RedScorecard and ball-by-ball details

After India Blue opted to bat first on a dry and cracked Greater Noida surface, Cheteshwar Pujara’s fluent unbeaten 111 and Gautam Gambhir’s well-compiled 94 studded a dominant batting display over an India Red attack that lacked penetration and consistency.

Gambhir, who registered his fourth consecutive fifty-plus score of the tournament, also brought up his fourth consecutive century opening stand with Mayank Agarwal, who scored 57 in a knock laced with fluent cover drives. Pujara, coming off an innings of 166 against India Green, built on that base, scoring at a strike rate of 67.68 against a tiring and deflated bowling attack.

India Blue made hay after the sun went down, plundering 151 runs in the third session for the sole loss of Rohit Sharma. Pujara and Dinesh Karthik made the bulk of those runs in an unbroken fourth-wicket stand of 120 off 23.3 overs, which thoroughly entertained the sizeable crowd and took India Blue to an imposing 362 for 3 by stumps.

If winning the toss was a slice of luck for India Blue, their openers benefited from a few more fortunate moments during their 144-run stand. Left-arm wristspinner Kuldeep Yadav, introduced in the 15th over, produced a chance with his first ball when Gambhir defended a good-length delivery to silly point, who couldn’t hold on to a low catch. A little later, Kuldeep beat a charging Agarwal but wicketkeeper Ankush Bains failed to collect the ball cleanly to complete the stumping.

It …

continue reading in source www.espncricinfo.com