Deodhar Trophy: Shubman Gill powers Rahane-led India 'C' to final

On the back of a belligerent unbeaten century by swashbuckling Punjab batsman Shubman Gill, Ajinkya Rahane-led India C obliterated Dinesh Karthik-captained India 'A' by six wickets in the semifinal of the Deodhar Trophy, played at the Feroze Shah Kotla Stadium, in Delhi on Thursday.

Suryakumar Yadav, who slammed a 36-ball 56, stayed at the crease with Shubman to see that there were no hiccups while chasing 294 after India A had posted the highest score of the tournament - 293 in the first innings.

Looking to mount the offensive, Rahane (14 off 25) opened with Abhinav Mukund but did not give his team the desired start. He punched one towards the bowler Dhawal Kulkarni who grabbed it on the follow through. Mukund (37 off 40 balls), next partnered with U-19 World Cup man of the series, Shubman and upped the ante hitting Kulkarni for back-to-back boundaries in the very next over.

His brut hitting only cost him wicket sooner as he punched one directly onto the stumps on a Shams Mulani delivery in 15th over. The experienced Suresh Raina (2) stepped in to anchor the team. Four overs later, Suresh had to depart, courtesy of a run out while stealing a quick single on the on-side.

Southpaw Ishan Kishan joined forces with Gill and the duo stitched together a match-winning 121-run partnership for the fourth wicket. Kishan lost his wicket to a leg-before call in the 36th over. His fall did not matter as he had done the damage and propelled the team to 206.

Yadav stepped in next and started dispatching balls to the boundary. While Shubman took a backseat and quietly completed his century, denting opponents all hopes of a win. Both the batsmen remained unbeaten till the end.

Earlier, Karthik included Bengal batsman Abhimanyu Easwaran (69), who opened the innings with Anmolpreet Singh (59) of Punjab. The top three India 'A' batsmen including Nitish Rana completed their respective fifties taking the team to 219 for 3 in just 35 overs. Nitish Rana (68) fell while in pursuit of some quick runs attempting a pull off Deepak Chahar failing to clear the midwicket fielder. This instigated a butterfly effect as Dinesh Karthik (32), Ankit Bawne (0), and Ravichandran Ashwin (3) fell prey to Vijay Shankar in close succession.

Karthik was caught plumb in the next delivery. Ankit Bawne delivered a simple catch to substitute R Samarth in the in-field and Ashwin followed the suit in similar fashion trying to execute a pull.

Kedar Jadhav (41 off 25 balls) saved the India 'A' blushes towards the tail-end hitting two fours and two sixes in a quickfire unbeaten knock.