Dravid century seals it for India A

India A 294 for 9 (Dravid 115, Kaif 63) beat India B 204 (Uthappa 66, Kartik 3-26, Mongia 3-47) by 90 runs
Scorecard

An outstanding 115 from Rahul Dravid won the day for India A as they coasted to a 90-run win against India A, to seal a place in the finals of the Challenger Series at the Wankhede Stadium. The result was also good news for the Seniors team - their win against the B team on Tuesday meant that they will also contest the decider, to be held tomorrow (February 10).

It was a must-win game for India B, and while they made a fine start after choosing to field - a decision obviously prompted by the results in the two previous matches - things went downhill very quickly. After 8.1 overs, India A were struggling at 35 for 2, having lost Dheeraj Jadhav and Dinesh Mongia early. Then, Dravid strode out to the crease, and the complexion of the game changed in a trice. With Mohammad Kaif offering him excellent support, India A amassed 294 for 9. The run-chase started off in blistering fashion, thanks primarily to Robin Uthappa's 48-ball 66, but like sprinters in a long-distance race, India B's batsmen failed to last the distance, and the result was a foregone conclusion far before the last ball was bowled.

Dravid and Kaif had been the pair which had sealed the win in the first match, against the Seniors, and here they did a repeat performance. Dravid, especially, was a class act. For much of his innings, he batted as if in an extended net session, doing with the bowling attack as he pleased. He signalled his intentions early, with a gorgeous off-drive and a flick in Joginder Sharma's first over, and then carried on with that momentum. His half-century came off just 45 balls, and he needed only 37 more to reach his century.

Kaif's innings was almost as authoritative. Both batsmen were scarcely worried by the bowling changes that Sehwag tried as runs came at six an over with minimal risk. When the spinners pitched it up, they were driven down the ground for singles; when they dropped it short, the runs came square of the wicket; then, just to break the monotony, a lofted shot would fetch a four or a six. It was so easy, it was boring to watch. Kaif finally chipped a catch to mid-on for 63, but by then the pair had added 124 at a run a ball, and Sehwag's decision at the toss suddenly didn't look such a wise one.

Dravid carried on with the run-fest, but when he was out, holing a catch to midwicket, the innings lost its way. Only 35 came in the last 6.2 overs, and an innings which should have gone in excess of 300 finished up on an imposing, but far from safe, 294.

India B's run-chase depended, to a large extent, on Sehwag's contribution, but Uthappa's astounding charge at the start gave the impression that they might not even need too much from Sehwag, who dropped himself to No. 4. Striking the ball with amazing confidence and skill down the ground, Uthappa played some outstanding straight-drives off Zaheer Khan and RP Singh. With VVS Laxman displaying his typical elegant wristiness, India B were eating into the target far too easily for Dravid's liking, when a slew of wickets suddenly killed the contest.

Laxman flicked a catch casually to mid-on, before the left-arm spin duo of Murali Kartik and Mongia struck the decisive blows. Kartik trapped Uthappa and Rohan Gavaskar in front, before Mongia played party-pooper by dismissing Sehwag, the crowd favourite. Sehwag had earlier survived two chances, and one of them was a controversial one: Kartik claimed a caught-and-bowled, Sehwag stayed his ground, not sure if the catch was taken cleanly, and the umpires ruled in his favour.

An altercation followed between Dravid and the batsmen, but the reprieve failed to be of much use to India B. The crowd, which had roared its approval at the umpires' decision, didn't like it much when, in the next over, Sehwag's tonk off Mongia only found Jadhav at long-on (143 for 4).

That spelled the end of the contest, as wickets then fell in a hurry - the last seven fell for 61, and the sparse crowds made their way towards the exit much before Amit Bhandari, the last man, fell to Kartik to seal the contest.