Sehwag finds his groove

It will be India Blue versus India Red in the final today

AHEMDABAD: Former Test cricketer and South Zone selector Venkatpathy Raju had a brief meeting with Virender Sehwag before the third day’s play of the NKP Salve Challenger Trophy at the Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, on Thursday.  What transpired between them was not known, but the discussion, sure, had a positive impact on the Delhi opener.

He then went about thrashing the India Green bowlers all around the park during his fiery knock of 75 runs that saw India Blue win by 91 runs and enter the final. With this win, Blues will take on the Mohd Kaif’s India Red in the final on Sunday.
Sehwag apart, his teammates Arjun Yadav, Suresh Raina and Dinesh Karthik too had a party on the flat Motera wicket as India Blue put up a huge total of 330.

The dashing opener had a blast having opted to bat on the tailor-made wicket for batsman. Taking the advantage of powerplays 1 & 2, Sehwag smashed 14 boundaries and a six in his 57-ball 75.

With Sehwag in an attacking mood, it was difficult for the bowlers to stop him. The Green seamer Abhishek Nayar, playing his second List A career game, had a tough time bowling to the Delhi batsman as he thrashed 19 runs in the 19th over. Left-arm spinner Iqbal Abdullah, however, ended Sehwag’s reign with an armour delivery which rattled the batsman’s leg stumps. But the damage was already done.

The opener’s dismissal dipped Blue’s run-rate in the middle, but Suresh Raina and Arjun Yadav brought them back on track again. Yadav, whose inclusion was questioned, silenced his critics by scoring a dazzling half century. He along with Raina, added 85 runs for the third wicket.

Raina has been unstoppable since his return to cricket after six months. The youngster, who missed his century in the opening game on Thursday, was in no mood to spare any bowler as he cut, slashed and pulled bowlers to all around the ground. The southpaw, who scored a fiery 65 runs off 51 balls, was unfortunate not to score a ton. He tried to pull a short delivery from his Uttar Pradesh teammate but the ball landed in hands of Manoj Tiway at the mid-wicket.

Undeterred by his non-inclusion in the 15-member squad for the home series against Pakistan, Dinesh Karthik hit fast bowler Munaf Patel for a straight six. Wickets began falling at regular intervals at the other end, but that did not affect Karthik’s confidence as he raced through his half century and took India Blues past 300. For Green, Piyush Chawla and Iqbal Abdulla claimed two wickets each.

Chasing 330 was always difficult for the young India Green. Once they lost openers cheaply, it was more difficult for them. However, southpaw Parthiv Patel played a captain’s knock and tried to revive his team’s chances but it was not to be. He added 81 runs with Rohit Sharma (48).

Parthiv played some class shots — hitting through the gaps and slamming 53 runs off50 balls. However, he was unlucky to be run out off a direct hit from Joginder Sharma.

Scorecard

India Blue
V Sehwag b I Abdulla 75, S Anodkar c P Patel b P Singh 8, A Yadav c Pujara b Tiwary 65, S Raina c Tiwary b Chawla 64,  D Kaarthick b M Patel 65, N Patel c Tiwary b Chawla 22, R Powar c M Patel b I Abdulla 0, J Sharma run out 2, A Mishra not out 9, S Bandekar not out 12
Extras: (LB5 W3) 8
Total (for 8 wkts; 50 overs) 330
Fall of wickets: 1-23, 2-112, 3-197, 4-229, 5-292, 6-293, 7-307, 8-313
Bowling: M Patel 10-1-52-1, Pankaj Singh 9-0-54-1, Abhishek Nayar 3-0-35-0, Piyush Chawla 10-0-60-2, I Abdulla 9-0-56-2, Yousuf Pathan 4-0-26-0, Manoj Tiwary 3-0-25-1, Rohit Sharma 2-0-17-0.

India Green
Y Pathan c Asnodkar b Joginder Sharma 6, S Anirudha b Joginder Sharma 13, P Patel run out (Joginder Sharma) 53, R Sharma st Karthik b Powar 48, M Tiwary b Powar 16, A Nayar c Karthik b Mishra 22, C Pujara c sub b Powar 4, P Chawla lbw b Mishra 18, I Abdulla not out 14, P Singh c Patel b Mishra 10,M Patel c Patel b Raina 11
Extras: (B2 W15 NB7) 24
Total (all out in 38.2 overs) 239
Fall of wickets 1-10, 2-46, 3-127, 4-131, 5-174, 6-178, 7-185, 8-204, 9-224, 10-239
Bowling: J Sharma 5-0-29-2, V Yomahesh 6-0-48-0, S Bandekar 4.3-0-44-0, R Powar 10-0-45-3, A Mishra 10-0-50-3, V Sehwag 2.3-0-21-0, S Raina 0.2-0-0-1.