Tilak Varma, Pratham Singh slam centuries

Day two between India A and India D had ended in humorous fashion, as India D captain Shreyas Iyer took just his fifth first-class wicket by dismissing Mayank Agarwal. Tilak Varma came in at No.3 at the start of day three, joining opener Pratham Singh with their team leading by 222 runs.

The pair followed up a 115-run opening stand by putting on 114 runs for the second wicket. Pratham, who plays for Railways in domestic cricket, brought up just his second first-class century with a flurry of boundaries off pacer Vidwath Kaverappa. He was eventually dismissed by Saurabh Kumar for 122.

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Riyan Parag came in at No.4 and laced a couple of sixes off spinners Saurabh and Saransh Jain, but was dismissed by the former for just 20, making Parag the only batter on his side to not go past fifty in the innings.

Tilak was then joined by Shashwat Rawat as they started to make life difficult for the bowlers. Rawat made his way to a half-century before Tilak reached the three-figure mark, both before tea. They batted two overs after the tea interval, before captain Mayank Agarwal declared at 380-3, setting India D 488 to win. Tilak was unbeaten on 111, and Rawat on 64.

In their run chase, India D lost Atharva Taide for a duck, to Khaleel Ahmed. Yash Dubey and No.3 Ricky Bhui then saw their side through to stumps in contrasting fashion. Bhui took the aggressive route for 44 off 52 balls, while Dubey remained steadfast, not out on 15 off 60 balls at the end of day three.

Score at stumps, day three: India A 290 (Shams Mulani 89, Harshit Rana 4-51) & 380-3d (Pratham Singh 122, Saurabh Kumar 2-110) vs India D 183 (Devdutt Padikkal 92, Khaleel Ahmed 3-39) & 62-1 (Ricky Bhui 44*, Khaleel Ahmed 1-17). India D need 426 more runs to win.

Anshul Kamboj takes five; Abhimanyu Easwaran the lone warrior

On a good batting track, India C had batted for one and a half days to post 525, before India B openers Abhimanyu Easwaran and N Jagadeesan put on 124 by stumps on day two.

Their stand was broken in the fourth over of day three, as Jagadeesan was caught behind off Haryana and Mumbai Indians seamer Anshul Kamboj, for 70. There was a touch of controversy about his dismissal, though, as he reportedly had an animated discussion with the umpire. With no broadcast of the match, there was also no DRS available, so Jagadeesan had no choice but to make his way back.

#Jagadeesan falls for 70, caught behind off #AnshulKamboj. He wasn't happy, suggested to the umpire that he didn't edge or glove it. Had an animated chat.#DuleepTrophy #INDBvsINDC

— Prasanna Venkatesan (@prasreporter) September 14, 2024

Thereafter, the day belonged to Kamboj as a strong middle-order for India B fell one by one. Musheer Khan departed four overs after Jagadeesan, trapped lbw by Kamboj for one. The elder Khan, Sarfaraz, suffered the same fate for 16 before Rinku Singh became Kamboj's fourth victim, caught by Ishan Kishan for six.

Kamboj then completed his first-ever five-wicket haul in any format of professional cricket by knocking back Nitish Kumar Reddy's stumps for two.

Through it all, skipper Easwaran stood firm, reaching his century after lunch. He watched two more batters depart, as Washington Sundar and R Sai Kishore were removed by Vyshak Vijaykumar and Mayank Markande respectively.

By stumps, Easwaran had batted the entire day, remaining not out, to help his side to 309-7. The deficit remains 216 runs but the captain's efforts have significantly reduced the probability of a loss.

Score at stumps, day three: India C 525 (Ishan Kishan 111, Mukesh Kumar 4-126) vs India B 309-7 (Abhimanyu Easwaran 143*, Anshul Kamboj 5-66). India B trail by 216 runs.

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