India Green 147/8 | 49 overs (Stumps Day 1)
Mayank Markhande 32 (51b, 2x4), Tanveer Ul-Haq 8 (32b, 1x4)
Play has been called off due to bad light. STUMPS DAY 1!
Jaydev Unadkat has been India Red's best bowler today. He ends the day with figures of four for 58 in 18 overs, which includes a maiden.
Sandeep Warrier, Avesh Khan and Aditya Sarwate got a wicket each, while there was a run-out as well.
For India Green, Dhruv Shorey, Akshdeep Nath and Mayank Markande were the only batsmen to cross the 20-run mark.
India Green 138/8| 46 Overs
Tanveer Ul-Haq 7 (26 balls, 1x4), Mayank Markande 24 (42 balls, 1x4)
Yes, it's the same place and stadium. When I first saw the change in weather, I couldn't help but let out a chuckle. Bangalore is at its frivolous best. But the news is, the players are back on the field.
"The discussion is still going on and now, they have covered the pitch. The officials will take a call at 5:30 pm but highly unlikely that we'll have any more play today. If the light improves, we might get to see play entended till 6 pm. Also, as per mutual agreement by botht the teams, the floodlights will not be used," reports Anjana.
Our reporter, Anjana gives us a live update from ground zero in Bengaluru: "The start of the evening session was delayed due to drizzle. It's stopped now but as a precautionary measure, the covers are still on. The umpires have been convering with the match officials for a long time now trying to decide whether to keep the covers or bring them off. Dark sky looms over the stadium."
TEA BREAK!
India Green 133/8| 43 Overs
Tanveer Ul-Haq 5 (15 balls, 1x4), Mayank Markande 21 (32 balls, 1x4)
How long can Mayank Markande and Tanveer Ul-Haq negotiate Unadkat's fierce spell for?
India Green 112/8| 36 Overs
UNADKAT PICKS UP HIS FOURTH! Rajesh Mohanty walks back without troubling the scores after getting caught behind by Ishan Khan. Unadkat offered a half-volley and lured Mohanty to drive, but he was too late on the shot.
India Green 107/7| 35 Overs
Unadkat: 11-1-38-3
CAUGHT AND BOWLED! Avesh Khan finally gets rewarded for all the hard work he has done today. Jadeja has to walk back. He had seemingly come in to bat with a plan of playing only on the back foot. After hitting three boundaries, he tried to defend a length ball by Khan and eneded up handing the bowler a simple catch. Poor decision making there!
BOWLED HIM! A peach of a delivery from Unadkat that clipped the top of off to send Wadkar packing.
Dharmendrasinh Jadeja comes in to bat at no 7.
India Green 93/5| 32 Overs
Aksh Deep Nath 29 (46 balls, x4)
Sarvate, only in his second over, flights one to the batsman, who decided to charge down the wicket and play a lofted shot over the in-field. But he mistimed the shot and ended up giving a simple catch to Priyank Panchal at short mid-wicket.
AKSH DEEP NATH THROWS HIS WICKET AWAY AS INDIA RED GETS ANOTHER BREAKTHROUGH!!
India Green 80/4| 29 Overs
Aksh Deep Nath 19 (32 balls, 3x4); Wadkar 4 (27 balls)
After a break that last over an hour, the clouds seemed to have cleared as play resumes.
Hang on, hang on: don't get your hopes too high just yet; the covers are coming back. Gaaahhh...
Drizzle to rain to bright sky - such a transition in the last 10 minutes, reports Anjana from Chinnaswamy. Not a clear sky, but no dark clouds at the moment. The good news is that the covers are coming off!
India Green 73/4| 24.5 Overs
LUNCH
AD Nath 12(24 balls, 2x4), AV Wadkar 4 (10 balls, 1x4)
Unadkat: 10-1-31-2, Warrier: 10-1-23-1
LUNCH: THE TWO TEAMS WILL NOW TAKE LUNCH AND INDIA RED HEADS INTO THE BREAK WITH CLEAR ADVANTAGE.
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To find out what else Kohli said about such matches, you can click here^
Indian skipper Virat Kohli believes the same. A similar thing happened last month during India's tour of West Indies. The first ODI, that was eventually called of due to rain, was laced with multiple rain stoppages. It didn't go down well with Kohli as he later said that such matches can cause serious injuries to the players.
Once again, rain stops play. This must be really frustrating for the players. Start-stop matches are the worst. Does this ring a bell?
Akshay Wadkar joins Aksh Deep Nath in the centre. Priyank Panchal introduces left-arm orthodox spinner Akshay Sarvate into the attack.
India Green 65/4| 21.1 Overs
Akshath Reddy 14 (45 balls, 2x4) run out Avesh Khan
REDDY RUN-OUT! India green loses its fourth wicket and is in serious trouble now. The second opener, Akshath Reddy has also been sent back. Coming to the ball, Reddy mistimed the ball to long on and took off for a quick single. Aksh Deep Nath on the other end said no and sent him back. But he couldn't back on time as Avesh Khan was quick to get to the ball and threw it back to the keeper who dislodged the bails.
Reddy resumes his innings with a boundary. The ball was coming in sharply at his toes, but the batsman managed to get his bat down on time and guide the ball to the fence through the gully region.
The covers are coming off ! And well, the sun's out too. That kind of a day in Bengaluru.
The covers have been brought on again in Bengaluru. Very typical of the city indeed!
Aksh Deep Nath joins Reddy in the middle. The onus is now on these two to repair the damage caused by Unadkat and Warrier.
India Green 53/3| 17.4 Overs
Siddhesh Lad 0 (1 ball), Akshath Reddy 14 (45 balls, 2x4)
GONE WITH THE WIND! A first ball duck for Siddhesh Lad as Jaydev Unadkat picks up his second wicket! Unadkat pitched the ball up and wide, tempting Lad to go for the drive straightaway. The batsman, however, could not keep it down and was caught by Panchal at short cover. INDIA GREEN IN BIG TROUBLE EARLY ON IN THE FINAL.
India Green 53/2| 16 Overs
Shorey 23 (37 balls, 3x4), Akshath Reddy 14 (45 balls, 2x4)
Caught Behind and Shorey has to walk back. VERY WELL THOUGHT OUT THIS, BY SANDEEP WARRIER. The previous ball swung in to the batsman's pads, tempting the fielding side to appeal. However, umpire S Ravi turned it down by signalling that it was too high. Next ball, Sandeep angled the ball in and swung it away from Dhruv. He tried to defend it, but couldn't down on time. He was looking very comfortable at the crease today, but couldn't prevent himself from edging this ball to wicket-keeper Ishan. His fluent innings of 23 runs has been ended Warrier.
India Green 43/1| 11.1 Overs
Jaydev Unadkat trapped Faiz Fazal in front for 12. Dhruv Shorey has joined Akshath Reddy. Shorey is playing his shots and has raced to 16 off 17 balls thanks to three boundaries.
TOSS UPDATE: India Green has won the toss and elected to bat.
Here's the match preview by our correspondent Anjana Senthil
After three matches and three draws (one got abandoned after 49 overs of play on Day 1), the three-team Duleep Trophy — which ushers the new Indian domestic season — has already reached the final stretch. Contrary to expectations of a day-night match, the Duleep Trophy final between India Red and India Green will be a red-ball affair which begins at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Wednesday.
The summit clash had been played with pink ball in a day-night format in the previous two seasons and a similar format was expected to be followed this year. With no official announcement in that regard, the organisers confirmed it would be a traditional red-ball day game.
The two teams played out a draw in their last round-robin match at the Alur Grounds. India Red, which had already qualified for the final by virtue of its first-innings lead against India Blue in its opening match, took a one-run lead against India Green to stay on top of the table with six points.
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India Green pipped India Blue on better net run-rate to make it to the final.
The final will see Jharkhand wicketkeeper-batsman Ishan Kishan playing for India Red after completing his duty for India 'A' against the visiting South Africa 'A' side. Already under the radar of the selectors as a possible option in their plans to manage Rishabh Pant’s workload, Kishan would look to make it count in the final. Leg-spinner Mayank Markande will replace Rahul Chahar, who will take his place in the India 'A' side for the last two one-day games against South Africa 'A', in the India Green side.
In terms of form, India Red’s batting has helped the team secure bonus points by achieving first-innings leads in both its matches to top the table. Karun Nair has been the top-scorer in the tournament with 355 runs, adding a century and two 90 plus scores to his tally; left-handed batsman Mahipal Lomror scored a century against India Green before pacer Avesh Khan denied India Red the lead with a fighting half-century to go with his four-wicket haul. Going by form, and luck, Red will be the team to beat. India Green, however, did not get to bat in the first match but managed to register 440 in the first innings thanks to a knock of 146 from opener Akshath Reddy.
India Green batsman Priyam Garg, who was hit on the neck while fielding, is expected to be fit.
Short spells of rain are expected throughout the week, potentially keeping the groundsmen busy. Despite limited sunshine, an excellent drainage facility at the stadium should ensure smooth progress of the match. A competitive match and an outright result will be the ideal conclusion to a tournament that has constantly been restructured and tinkered with to keep it relevant in the changing dynamics of domestic cricket.
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