Pant and Sarfaraz counterattack their way out of trouble

The third day in Bengaluru began with India A at 134-2, with Riyan Parag and KL Rahul at the crease. Parag went early on, caught down the leg side off Yash Dayal as the day moved quickly. Dhruv Jurel was next out, trapped lbw by Navdeep Saini before Rahul was bowled attempting to paddle-sweep Washington Sundar. Shivam Dube played a few nice shots in his stay, but was soon undone by Mukesh Kumar.

Kuldeep Yadav came and went, before Akash Deep gave Tanush Kotian some company in a stubborn eighth-wicket partnership. But left-arm spinner Sai Kishore (who bowled just 6.4 overs) removed Kotian as well as last man Khaleel Ahmed to secure a 90-run lead for his side, midway through the second session of the day.

India B then came out for their second innings, but lost Yashasvi Jaiswal early on, caught down the leg side. First-innings hero Musheer Khan followed suit, for a six-ball duck as Jurel took a spectacular diving catch behind the stumps. Captain Abhimanyu Easwaran then departed, chasing a wide one to nick behind and leave his side 22-3.

It was only then, though, that the day's main entertainment began as Rishabh Pant joined Sarfaraz Khan in the middle. The two maverick batters enthralled the not-insignificant Chinnaswamy crowd for close to an hour, putting on 72 runs in just 55 balls. Pant made sure to pull out his now-signature reverse scoop off the fast bowler, mixing it in among some gorgeous checked drives.

Sarfaraz managed to outdo Pant in their time at the crease together, slamming Khaleel Ahmed over cover with disdain and dispatching Akash Deep for five consecutive fours in an over. His stay was ended as he eventually nicked a short, wide delivery from Avesh Khan through to Jurel.

Rishabh Pant and Sarfaraz Khan scored 72 in 56 balls for the fourth wicket in the Duleep Trophy.

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Pant continued to attack and entertain, but eventually perished to off-spinner Tanush Kotian for 61. Nitish Kumar Reddy and Washington Sundar then carried on, registering a lead of 240 runs before Reddy was dismissed off the final ball of the day, giving Jurel his fifth catch of the innings.

Score at stumps, day three: India B 321 (Musheer Khan 181, Akash Deep 4-60) & 150-6 (Rishabh Pant 61, Akash Deep 2-36) vs India A 231 (KL Rahul 37, Navdeep Saini 3-60). India B lead by 240 runs.

India C batters combine to take them to four-wicket win

In Anantapur, India D started the day at 206-8, leading by 202 runs. Axar Patel and Harshit Rana were the overnight batters, who added an important 30 runs to the score to take India D to 236.

Manav Suthar, who had already picked up a five-for by the end of day two, picked up the last two wickets to fall to finish with figures of 7-49. Axar, looking to score quickly, holed out at long off, while the No.11 Aditya Thakare was bowled off an arm-ball.

Also read: Duleep Trophy records: Top run-getters of all time

Having scored five and seven respectively in the first innings, the India C openers - captain Ruturaj Gaikwad and left-hander Sai Sudharshan had a point to prove. Under overcast conditions, they came out all guns blazing, signalling their intent to gun down the target as quickly as possible.

Gaikwad hit the first two balls of the innings, bowled by Harshit Rana, for fours. Scoring at a run-a-ball, the partnership reached 64 in the 11th over when Sudharshan was caught driving off-spinner Saransh Jain. Jain then picked up Gaikwad's wicket four overs later, getting him to edge an arm ball to slip as the India C skipper fell for 46 off 48 balls.

Aryan Juyal and Rajat Patidar then took the attack to the India D spinners - Jain and Axar. Juyal used the sweep shot to good effect, while Patidar stepped out and displayed his range against spin. However, timely wickets meant India D were always in the hunt.

Patidar was out for 44 off 77, stepping out and missing a ball by Jain as he was stumped. While Juyal was dismissed by Arshdeep Singh for 47 off 74. Baba Indrajith fell soon after for seven and was followed by Hrithik Shokeen, who was out for a duck as India C collapsed from 165-2 to 191-6.

Just as India D sensed an opening, Abhishek Porel and Manav Suthar joined to steady the ship and safely taken India C to victory with an unbeaten 42-run seventh-wicket stand. Porel was not out on 35 off 63, while Suthar made 19 off 43. Jain was the pick of the bowlers for India D, with figures of 4-92.

Final score: India D 164 (Axar Patel 86, Vijaykumar Vyshak 3-19) & 236 (Devdutt Padikkal 56, Manav Suthar 7-49) LOST to India C 168 (Baba Indrajith 72, Harshit Rana 4-33) & 233-6 (Aryan Juyal 47, Saransh Jain 4-92) by four wickets.

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