India Red 187 for 7 (Indrajith 59, Sundar 42*, Bhatt 3-75) and 483 lead India Blue 299 (Easwaran 127, Unadkat 83, Sundar 5-94, Gohil 5-121) by 371 runs
India Red strengthened their position in the Duleep Trophy final after taking a first-innings lead of 184 after both teams played our their respective first innings, courtesy five-wicket hauls from Vijay Gohil and Washington Sundar, following which the latter struck an unbeaten 42 to give his team the upper hand at stumps.
India Blue started the day on 185 for 5, and managed to add another 114 runs, with Abhimanyu Easwaran completing his fourth first-class hundred in the process. But pacer Gohil and Sundar cleaned up the India Blue tail – and took five wickets each – to give India Red the advantage as India Blue’s batting collapsed on either side of a 140-run partnership for the sixth wicket between Easwaran and Jaydev Unadkat. India Red then stuttered their way to 187 for 7 at the end of play on the third day, but not before consolidating their hold on the final.
In their second innings, India Red were quickly reduced to 58 for 4 (a lead of 142), before Baba Indrajith and Sundar added 77 runs for the fifth wicket to pull their team out of a hole. Indrajith fell on 59 in the day’s last session – the fifth man to go – with the team’s score at 135, following which Sundar ensured he remained unbeaten as India Red lost two further wickets before the day ended.
While it was offspinner Akshay Wakhare, whose two wickets triggered the early India Red collapse, it was Bhargav Bhatt’s spell towards the day’s end that helped India Blue slightly claw their way back at stumps. Bhatt removed the dangerous Suryakumar Yadav (22) and Vijay Gohil in the final session before Sundar and Siddarth Kaul (5*) saw the evening off.
Source: ESPN Crickinfo