Bowlers deliver, India Blue on verge of final

GREATER NOIDA: India Blue skipper Gautam Gambhir’s precise moves and response from his bowlers saw India Green bundled out for 237 in just over two sessions on Day

GREATER NOIDA: India Blue skipper Gautam Gambhir’s precise moves and response from his bowlers saw India Green bundled out for 237 in just over two sessions on Day Three of their Duleep Trophy tie on Tuesday. Blue secured a lead of 470 and then reached 85/0 at stumps.

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Gambhir (36 not out) and Mayank Agarwal (49 not out) will look to drive home the domination on the last day to seal a final against India Red. Pacers Pankaj Singh and Abhimanyu Mithun and leg spinner Karn Sharma struck, but credit should go to Gambhir for the way he handled his bowlers. The wicket was flat and offered no help to the bowlers. But Gambhir used them in short spells, with the Delhi Ranji skipper’s guidance to fast bowlers making the difference.

Pankaj and Mithun bowled accurately. When he saw a batsman settling down, Gambhir made quick changes in the field setting.

At times it looked like Gambhir was leading his Ranji team on a flat Ferozeshah Kotla pitch. For Delhi, he has started with a spinner and brought in medium pacers with the old ball. On Tuesday, Gambhir introduced Karn Sharma in the very fourth over and he bowled India opener Murali Vi jay between bat and pad. An unsure Vijay stepped out and played for spin, but the pink ball with extra glaze skidded through. He brought in his pacers soon after. A stand between Parthiv Patel and Shreyas Gopal was growing but Pankaj and Mithun returned and delivered.

BRIEF SCORES: India Blue 707 and 85/0; India Green 237 (P Patel 55, S Raina 52, A Mithun 3/16, K Sharma 3/74, P Singh 2/54)