Duleep Trophy 2024: Easwaran, Washington help India B cut deficit with century stand against India D

Washington Sundar saw to it that Abhimanyu Easwaran did not run out of partners and stitched a 105-run sixth-wicket partnership with his captain.

FILE PHOTO : India B’s Abhimanyu Easwaran in action during the Duleep Trophy. | Photo Credit: B. Jothi Ramalingam / The Hindu

India B’s batting fortunes were once again left to Abhimanyu Easwaran’s one-man show (116, 170b, 13x4, 1x6) on the second day of its third-round Duleep Trophy fixture against India D at the Rural Development Trust Stadium B-ground in Anantapur.

Washington Sundar (39 batting, 89b, 3x4) saw to it that Abhimanyu did not run out of partners and stitched a 105-run sixth-wicket partnership with his captain, getting India B to 210 for six, still 139 short of India D’s 349.

Abhimanyu got easy pickings at the outset as he glanced and flicked Arshdeep Singh for two boundaries on deliveries angling down the leg. N. Jagadeesan could give him company for only 24 runs before poking away from his body and getting caught at gully against Aditya Thakare.

Suyash Prabhudessai survived two leg-before appeals when he took upon himself the task of sweeping off-spinner Saurabh Kumar. He was given the marching orders on the third occasion when a delivery kept low, skidded through and trapped him in front.

READ: Duleep Trophy 2024: Abhimanyu Easwaran scores second consecutive century for India B

Abhimanyu collected the only six of the innings, heaving Saurabh over long on before brandishing another hoist over covers for four.

It was Arshdeep’s five-over burst in the second session that brought India B to a crawl.

He set up Musheer Khan with deliveries that tailed away before getting another to shape in and trap him leg-before.

Suryakumar Yadav might have gotten off the mark with a boundary but was kept on his toes through his awkward 15-ball tenure. He first miscued a pull off Arshdeep’s bouncer but survived as the ball fell short of second slip. He was then put down at gully by Ricky Bhui on an expansive square drive. However, a sliced drive in Arshdeep’s next over could take the ball only as far as mid-off.

The left-arm seamer had his third victim in Nitish Kumar Reddy when his jab outside off stump took a nick and flew to the wicketkeeper.

Abhimanyu claimed his ton in 152 deliveries, but his desperate claims of the ball coming off his thigh pad went unheard and he was strangled down leg by Thakare at the stroke of Stumps.

Earlier in the day, Sanju Samson (106, 101b, 12×4, 3x6) curbed his instinct to swing for glory and teased his way to a century in 95 balls. His tick over to the 11th First-Class hundred relied on a solitary boundary that was straight-driven past mid-off against Navdeep Saini.

He looked keen on marching on when he on-drove Saini after the hundred but was left to rue his fluffed cover drive that found the fielder.

The remaining order barely resisted Saini’s charge to a five-wicket haul. Akash Sengupta’s ignominy of getting rapped on the helmet was compounded when he turned back and saw the ricochet crash into his stumps.

Arshdeep treated himself to two slogs, which added 10 runs to his name, but could not prevent Saini from rearranging the wickets. Saurabh’s run out at the non-striker’s end off an Arshdeep drive meant Saini had a hand in all dismissals in the morning.