By IANS
Ahmedabad : Dinesh Karthik struck an unbeaten century to anchor India Blue to victory in the N.K.P. Salve Chellenger Trophy, defeating India Red by six wickets with nine overs to spare here Sunday.
Choosing to bat first, India Red were bowled out for 269 in 49.3 overs, opener Gautam Gambhir topscoring with 82.
India Blue recovered from a disastrous start to reach 270 for four in 41 overs, thanks to half-centuries by Suresh Raina (50) and Niraj Patel (62 not out) who ably supported Karthik (116 not out).
India Red were rocked back by a fiery opening spell by Joginder Sharma, who had them struggling at 11 for two in the fourth over. Skipper Mohammad Kaif (22) too did not last long, and only a 111-run partnership for the fourth wicket between Gambhir and Subramaniam Badrinath (55) helped them recover.
A late flourish from Mahesh Rawat (43 not out) enabled India Red go past the 250-mark, with tail ender Shrikant Mundhe (18) and Pragyan Ojha (20) providing some late entertainment.
India Blue’s reply too did not begin well as skipper Virender Sehwag (1) fell off the seventh ball of the innings. Ajinkya Rahane and Arjun Yadav were both run out, leaving them teetering at a perilous 55 for three.
Raina and Karthik saw their side past the 100-mark and then Patel took over to see India Blue through without any more alarms.
Kathik deservedly pocketed the Player of the Match award, while Raina was named the Player of the Series.
Scorecard
India Red vs. India Blue (day/night), at Sardar Patel (Gujarat) Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad
India Red:
Praveen Kumar b Joginder Sharma 1
Gautam Gambhir c Joginder Sharma b Mishra 82
Karan Goel lbw b Joginder Sharma 4
Mohammad Kaif c Rahane b Bose 22
Subramaniam Badrinath lbw b Mahesh 55
Virat Kohli c and b Mishra 0
Paresh Patel lbw b Sehwag 0
Mahesh Rawat not out 43
Shrikant Mundhe st Karthik b Mishra 18
Pragyan Ojha c Sehwag b Mahesh 20
Siddharth Trivedi run out (Raina) 5
Extras (lb 10, w 8, nb 1) 19
Total (all out in 49.3 overs) 269
Fall of wickets: 1-7 (Kumar, 1.1), 2-11, (Goel 1.6), 3-47 (Kaif, 6.5), 4-158 (Gambhir, 28.3), 5-158 (Kohli, 28.4), 6-159 (Patel, 29.3), 7-191 (Badrinath, 36.3), 8-219 (Mundhe, 43.4), 9-252 (Ojha, 47.4), 10-269 (Trivedi, 49.3)
Bowling:
Ranadeb Bose 10-0-53-1 (2w)
Joginder Sharma 7-0-41-2
Yo Mahesh 9.3-0-56-2 (1nb, 3w)
Ramesh Powar 8-0-34-0
Amit Mishra 10-0-45-3 (3w)
Virender Sehwag 5-0-30-1
India Blue:
Virender Sehwag c and b Mundhe 1
Ajinkya Rahane run out (Goel) 20
Arjun Yadav run out (Patel/Kumar) 6
Suresh Raina b Trivedi 50
Dinesh Karthik not out 116
Niraj Patel not out 62
Extras (lb 2, w 13) 15
Total (for 4 wickets in 41 overs) 270
Fall of wickets: 1-4 (Sehwag, 1.1), 2-22 (Yadav, 4.6), 3-55 (Rahane, 8.5), 4-102 (Raina, 16.2)
Bowling:
Praveen Kumar 9-0-52-0 (4w)
Shrikant Mundhe 5-0-34-1 (2w)
Siddharth Trivedi 6-1-44-1 (1w)
Pragyan Ojha 9-0-60-0 (1w)
Subramaniam Badrinath 2-0-17-0 (3w)
Paresh Patel 7-0-36-0
Mohammad Kaif 1-0-7-0
Karan Goel 2-0-18-0 (1w)
Toss: India Red, chose to bat first
Result: India Blue won by six wickets
Player of the Match: Dinesh Karthik (India Blue)
Player of the Series: Suresh Raina (India Blue)
Umpires: Sameer Bandekar and Avani Jayaprakash
TV umpire: Avdhoot Gokhale
Match referee: B. Raghunath