Ranchi: Kedar Jadhav (86, 94b, 4×4, 4×6) conjured up a well-calculated knock before left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem (4/32) bowled brilliantly to help India B lift the Deodhar Trophy with a comprehensive 51-run win over India C in the final, here Monday.
However, the match will be remembered for another reason though. Shubman Gill broke a 10-year record set by Virat Kohli by becoming the youngest player to lead a side in the Deodhar Trophy final. Subhman Gill who led the India C side is currently aged 20 years and 57 days. Virat Kohli when he led North Zone to victory during the 2009-10 season was 21 years old and prior to the game played Monday, he was the youngest Indian to lead a side in the Deodhar Trophy final.
Electing to bat, India B recovered from early jolts to post a competitive 283 for seven, courtesy well-compiled fifties by Jadhav and Yashasvi Jaiswal (54, 79b, 5×4, 1×6) and an aggressive knock of 45 (33b, 4×4, 2×6) from Vijay Shankar down the order.
The bowlers led by Nadeem and Mohammed Siraj (2/43) then joined the party as India B restricted India C to 232 for nine in 50 overs to emerge comfortable winners.
However, Shubman Gill (1) failed to make it a memorable game for him as he fell early on to Siraj. After Gill’s departure, Mayank Agarwal (28) and Priyam Garg (74) added 54 runs before the opener was sent back by Nadeem in the 12th over.
That prompted a collapse as India C lost Virat Singh, Suryakumar Yadav and Dinesh Karthik in quick succession as India C were reduced to 77 for five.
Last match’s hero Axar Patel (38), Jalaj Saxena (36 n o) and Mayank Markande (27) fought hard but they were always fighting a losing cause.
Earlier, Bengal medium pacer Ishan Porel (5/43) bowled brilliantly but India B still managed to post a decent score on the board. Porel struck early as India B lost opener Ruturaj Gaikwad (0) in the first over and then skipper Parthiv Patel (14) too was back in the hut in the ninth over as they slipped to 28 for two.
At one point of time India B were 92 for four in the 25th over. However, Kedar Jadhav then steadied the ship. He first added 79 for the fifth wicket with Nitish Rana (20) before Porel dismissed the latter. Jadhav and Vijay Shankar then added 74 runs to take India B closed to the 250-mark.
Brief scores: 283 for 7 (Kedar Jadhav 86, Yashasvi Jaiswal 54, Vijay Shankar 45, Ishan Porel 5/43) beat India C 232 for 9 in 50 overs (Priyam Garg 74, Shabaz Nadeem 4/32) by 52 runs.
PTI
