Deodhar Trophy, Semi-finals: Kedar Jadhav powers India A to final after six-wicket win over Gujarat
In the second semi-finals of the Deodhar Trophy, India A defeated the Vijay Hazare Trophy champions, Gujarat by six wickets on Wednesday to make it to the finals of the tournament. Kedar Jadhav's unbeaten 61-ball 91 allowed the India A side to chase down the target of 273 with 16 balls to spare.
India A captain, Ambati Rayudu won the toss and chose to field. However, Gujarat were boosted by a great start by their openers, Parthiv Patel and Priyank Panchal as they put in an 81-run partnership for the first wicket.
None of the other batsmen from Gujarat were able to hold on to their wicket for longer and stick around with captain, Parthiv Patel, who scored a fantastic hundred to propel his side to a competitive total of 272.
Parthiv Patel scored 119 off 125 balls and his knock included 16 fours as he found the boundary all around the ground and led his side by example. No. 10 batsman, Santosh Shinde was the second-highest scorer for Gujarat as he scored 28 off 18 balls to help up the run rate in the death overs.
Amit Mishra and Parvez Rasool were the picks of the bowlers for India A as they got three scalps each to their names. Shardul Thakur, Sreenath Aravind, Siddarth Kaul and Faiz Fazal picked up a wicket each as Gujarat were bowled out with four balls to spare.
In reply, India A, who lost their first match to India B, chased down the total brilliantly as their batsmen lived up to their billings and knocked Gujarat out of the tournament.
Opener Faiz Fazal scored a half-century to help build the foundation for the chase. Fazal scored 53 off 71 balls.
Although India A lost two quick wickets in Murali Vijay and Sudip Chatterjee, a 75-run partnership between Rayudu and Fazal took their side to safety. Even after Fazal fell to Mehul Patel, Rayudu carried on batting well and along with Jadhav took his team to within touching distance of the total.
Rayudu was run out on a score of 75, however, Jadhav only added that dismissal as an inspiration and accelerated to reach the target comfortably. In his unbeaten innings of 91, Jadhav hit 11 fours and two sixes.
Naman Ojha made sure there were no late hiccups as his 67-run stand with Jadhav took India A to the final of the 2016 Deodhar Trophy where they will face the Unmukt Chand-led India B on January 29.
Brief Scores: India A (toss) 273/4, 47.2 overs (Jadhav 91*, Rayudu 75; Mehul Patel 2/53) beat Gujarat 272/10, 49.2 overs (Parthiv Patel 119; Rasool 3/47, Mishra 3/48) by six wickets.