Easwaran, Samson hit contrasting tons on 11-wicket day

India B 210 for 6 (Easwaran 116, Arshdeep 3-30) trail India D 349 (Samson 106, Saini 5-74) by 139 runs

Like he did in the previous match, Abhimanyu Easwaran waged a lone battle for India B as they stare at a substantial first-innings deficit in the final round of the 2024-25 Duleep Trophy in Anantapur.

Easwaran backed his unbeaten 157 in the previous game with a second-straight century, a 170-ball 116, before being adjudged caught behind. Easwaran, who went for a hook shot, seemed to suggest the ball had deflected off his arm guard.

He couldn’t contest the decision because the BCCI has enabled DRS only for the other fixture, between India A and India C, which is being broadcast.

The runs couldn’t have come at a better time, given India will be looking to possibly narrow down on a reserve openers’ slot while looking ahead to the India A tour to Australia, followed by the five-Test Border Gavaskar Trophy, also in Australia.

Prior to Easwaran’s typically gritty knock, it was Sanju Samson who brought the thrill, racing to what was only his 11th first-class century, in 105 innings, at better than a run-a-ball. Samson hit 12 fours and three sixes in his 101-ball 106 that formed the bedrock of India D’s 349.

Navdeep Saini had a second impressive outing, picking up 5 for 74, to go with his five wickets and a half-century in the opening round of matches.

Already out of the reckoning for a trophy having lost both their games so far, India D hit back with the ball courtesy Arshdeep Singh and Aditya Thakare. Arshdeep, who is looking to build his way up the red-ball charts after becoming a white-ball regular for India, picked up 3 for 30 across 12 overs.

This included the big wickets of Suryakumar Yadav (5) and the in-form Musheer Khan (5). Nitish Kumar Reddy, among the BCCI’s target pool of players, bagged a third single-digit score in the tournament, two of them ducks, when he was nicked off by Arshdeep.

Washington Sundar batted with composure to remain unbeaten on 39 at stumps. He’ll have to do a bulk of the scoring on Saturday if India D are to minimise what could be a massive first-innings deficit.