Gill nails the chase with a fluent hundred

Shubman Gill handed India C their second win as they trounced India A by six wickets after chasing down 293 in the third game of the Deodhar Trophy on Thursday (October 25) at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium in Delhi. Abhimanyu Easwaran, Anmolpreet Singh and Nitish Rana struck half-centuries for India A but their efforts were nullified by Gill's ton and an aggressive 60-ball 69 by Ishan Kishan.

In a tricky-but-manageable chase, India C lost Ajinkya Rahane early on after a slow start. Abhinav Mukund failed to carry on and was bowled by Shams Mulani for a 40-ball 37 as the team was left with two new batsmen at the crease in the 16th over with 69 on the board. India C were jolted further when Suresh Raina was run out for just 2. At 85 for 3, India A had a superb opportunity to shut the door on their opposition.

But what transpired was a counterattack for the ages that turned the tide in India C's favour. Kishan and Gill scored 121 in the next 17 overs to help the team surge towards the target. Kishan was trapped lbw by R Ashwin soon after the side had crossed the 200-run mark but Gill was in the zone, set to see the team home. He found ample support in Suryakumar Yadav, who smashed 56 off 36, as the duo stitched together an unbeaten 90-run partnership to overhaul the target in 47 overs. India C will now take on India B in the final on Saturday.

In retrospect, India A were dragged back by Easwaran's scratchy start, failing to provide any kind of momentum at the top. He scored 69 off 103 as the opening stand managed 99. Most of the runs in that stand came from Anmolpreet's bat as his partner continued his uncomfortable grind. The impetus was provided by Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik and Kedar Jadhav who managed to make up for the slow start provided by the openers.

Jadhav, on his return from a hamstring injury in the Asia Cup final, smoked 41 off 25 to lift his side over 290 and will be satisfied with his current fitness.

Brief scores: India A 293/6 in 50 overs (Abhimanyu Easwaran 69; Vijay Shankar 3-40) lost to India C 296/4 in 47 overs (Shubman Gill 106*) by six wickets.