Vijay ton propels India Red into final by CricketArchive Staff Reporter

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Ground:	Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur
Scorecard:	India Green v India Red
Player:	M Vijay, S Dhawan, A Srikkanth, SS Tiwary
Event:	NKP Salve Challenger Trophy 2009/10

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DateLine: 9th October 2009

 

Murali Vijay continued his good form in the NKP Salve Challenger tournament as he cracked a flawless century to help India Red reach the final. He was well supported by Shikhar Dhawan with whom he added a dominating 155 runs for the first wicket as they subdued India Green.

 

India Green in their 50 overs made 223 for the loss of seven wickets. India Red chased down the 224-run target within 40 overs to get the bonus point which put them straight into the final.

 

Winning the toss and electing to bat, India Green could not up the tempo from the top. Tyagi and Patel combined to remove the top three batsmen to put the batting team in a spot of bother. Just when it seemed that India Green had lost the plot, Sourabh Tiwary and Anirudha Srikkanth came together to provide tempo for their team. It was the only period when the run-rate rose fractionally over the four-run mark as the pair added 74 in 14.1 overs. Tiwary mixed caution with aggression while Srikkanth provided him support. Green finally ended with a sub-par score off 223 in their 50 overs.

 

Red, in reply, did not face any trouble in chasing down the target as they were blessed with a strong opening pair. Vijay and Dhawan did not allow the Green bowlers to settle down as they tore into the opposition bowling with ridiculous ease.

 

With no real fast bowler in the rank, skipper Raina looked helpless as his bowlers were tonked around the park by both the openers. Even the spinners looked impotent in the face off such assault as Red won with more than ten overs to spare.