Musheer Khan, Navdeep Saini torment India A

In Bengaluru, India A put out a strong reply to India B’s first-innings total of 321, with KL Rahul (23* off 80) and Riyan Parag (27* off 49) navigating through some testing seam bowling to end the day unbeaten on 134-2.

On a cloudy day that barely let out any sunshine, seamers continued to dominate the action, with Kuldeep Yadav the only spinner with a wicket across 151 overs.

The first session belonged to Musheer Khan and Navdeep Saini, who continued their resistance from last evening. Musheer crossed 150 for the second time in his first-class career, taking his chances against the second-new ball. He hit Avesh Khan for a six and four off successive deliveries, but also held back in certain phases, playing out 34 balls for five runs until spin was introduced.

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He sent Kuldeep Yadav onto the roof of the Chinnaswamy, but was tricked by a wrong ‘un two balls later, as an epic 205-run eighth wicket stand came to an end. Saini went on, reaching his second first-class fifty, before he ran out of partners and was the last one to be dismissed.

In reply, Shubman Gill came out to open with Mayank Agarwal, and the duo looked solid: Mayank, in particular, pushed anything that was too full through the covers, crossing fifty just before tea. However, Saini struck with a vicious in-ducker, taking out Gill’s off-stump, who left the ball only to watch it do some damage.

Mayank fell not long after to a brilliant, diving leg-side catch by Rishabh Pant. That brought together the pairing of KL Rahul – who enjoyed plenty of cheers from the Chinnaswamy crowd – and Riyan Parag. Rahul was especially laid back: he made his way to 4 (46) when he got his first boundary, and slightly loosened up thereafter. The over-rate continued to be an issue, but Sai Kishore’s left-arm spin was barely utilised.

Score at stumps, day two: India B 321 (Musheer Khan 181, Akash Deep 4-60) vs India A 134-2 (Mayank Agarwal 36, Navdeep Saini 2-36). India A trail by 187 runs.

Baba Indrajith fights hard before Shreyas Iyer steps on the gas

In the match at Anantapur, India C were in a strong position at stumps on day one, bowling India D out for 164 before reaching 91-4. But the morning session saw them crumble. Abishek Porel was trapped lbw by Harshit Rana in the second over of the day, before a short-ball barrage got rid of Manav Suthar. Hrithik Shokeen and Vijaykumar Vyshak then went in consecutive overs to leave their side 108-8.

At the fall of the eighth wicket, Baba Indrajith was batting on 23 off 76 balls. As he was joined by No.10 Anshul Kamboj, he began to put on a masterclass in batting with the tail, attacking when required and farming the strike as much as possible.

For his part, Kamboj stoutly kept out 27 deliveries for just two runs, before a loss of patience against Saransh Jain saw him hole out to mid-off. In the next over, Indrajith managed to take a boundary off Axar Patel and help his side into the lead. He was eventually dismissed for 72, mistiming a sweep off Jain and ending up caught behind.

Ben Stokes has voiced his support for stand-in captain Ollie Pope, who has faced criticism for his modest batting performances against Sri Lanka.

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With a deficit of just four runs, India D came out swinging in their second innings. Yash Dubey departed in the second over, lbw to Vijaykumar Vyshak but captain Shreyas Iyer took the initiative to score quickly. He hit Vyshak for two fours and a six in the third over before scoring three boundaries in a over off Himanshu Chauhan.

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Iyer raced to a half-century off just 39 balls but departed soon after, caught off the bowling of Anshul Kamboj. Devdutt Padikkal then took up the baton, getting to his own fifty off 63 balls before perishing to left-arm spinner Manav Suthar. Suthar went on to account for KS Bharat, Ricky Bhui, Saransh Jain and Arshdeep Singh to complete a five-wicket haul.

Axar Patel and Harshit Rana then saw the side through to stumps, taking them to a lead of 202 runs.

Score at stumps, day two: India D 164 (Axar Patel 86, Vijaykumar Vyshak 3-19) & 206-8 (Devdutt Padikkal 56, Manav Suthar 5-30) vs India C 168 (Baba Indrajith 72, Harshit Rana 4-33). India D lead by 202 runs.

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