India B record resounding win over India A

India B 340 for 2 (Mongia 121, Yuvraj 111*) beat India A 225 (Gambhir 58, Mongia 4-31) by 82 runs (D/L method)
Scorecard

Fluent centuries from Yuvraj Singh and Dinesh Mongia combined with the loss of ten overs due to rain gave India B a resounding 82-run win against India A in the final league match of the Challenger Series. India B batted first on a belter of a wicket and piled on a mammoth 340 for 2, which comprehensively shut the door on India A. Gautam Gambhir and Sachin Tendulkar gave the A side the slightest whiff of hope when they set out to chase a revised target of 308 from 40 overs. But when the two of them were dismissed, the wheels fell off, wickets tumbled and India A were all out for 225.

When the day began, warm and sunny, Dravid was glad to win the toss and bat first. Mithun Manhas, who is playing his first game for India A in this tournament, dropped Mongia off the very first ball of the match at second slip. Aavishkar Salvi was the unlucky bowler, and Mongia practically grinned his way to 121 (117 balls, 19 fours). Yuvraj, though needed no help in getting to an unbeaten 111.

Yet again, there was nothing in the wicket to aid any type of bowler, and the batsmen realised this early on. After his early reprieve, Mongia put his head down and began to take full toll. His driving through the off was impeccable. He used his height and upright stance to great effect, getting right on top of the ball and driving through covers. Anything on the pads was whipped away and the boundaries began to come at a fast clip.

Satyajit Parab (41) made a sensible start, but missed out, driving Kumble to Mohammad Kaif at cover. That was the only blip in the India B innings. Yuvraj Singh swaggered out to the middle at No. 3 and brought confidence and vigour to the batting. He played a lot of cricket with Mongia and knew exactly what to do with the bowling. A high bat speed combined with effective placement sent perfectly good deliveries to the off-side fence. Fielders were left stranded as fiercely-hit balls pinged the advertising hoardings.

Mongia meanwhile continued to score freely. When he reached his hundred, the floodgates opened. He went after almost everything that was bowled at him cutting, flicking and driving with gay abandon. Eventually it was an air of overconfidence that did him in. He attempted a reverse sweep to a Kumble slider and was palpably lbw (219 for 2). Mongia's 121 (117 balls, 19 fours) helped add 118 runs for the second wicket.

There was no reason for Yuvraj to improvise though. Swinging cleanly through the line of the ball Yuvraj treated the spinners and pacemen with utter contempt. He played the pick-up shot to perfection, depositing Kumble and Salvi into the stands over midwicket off consecutive overs. The most brutal blow came in the last over of the innings. Irfan Pathan sent one down in the slot and Yuvraj simply teed off. The ball sailed over the bowler's head and landed on the roof of the stands at long-on. Another six and four followed, taking his tally to 10 fours and four sixes out of 111 off just 82 balls.

If India A were sweating at the prospect of chasing 341, their task was made harder when 45 minutes were lost to rain and their target was revised to 308 off 40 overs. Tendulkar (22) and Gambhir (58) got the side off to a frenetic start, reaching 47 from just 4.5 overs. After hooking Amit Bhandari for one magnificent six, Tendulkar presented Dravid at mid-off with the simplest of catches (47 for 1).

Gambhir kept hopes up, picking up boundaries with regularity. When he was bowled around the legs by a Sarandeep Singh offbreak, India A slipped to 87 for 2 and never recovered.

Mongia (4 for 31) added to Manhas's and India A's misery, picking up four cheap wickets as India A limped to 225 all out. India B, the least fancied team in this series won the dress rehearsal comprehensively. The same two teams will be back tomorrow for the final and fans will look forward to a more keenly contested game.