Duleep Trophy: Skipper Gaikwad leads the way for India C with quickfire 46

After nicking off to Harshit Rana in the first innings without doing too much damage to the scorecard, India C captain Ruturaj Gaikwad led from the front in his second essay in the Duleep Trophy 2024 encounter. On Day 3, chasing 233, he hammered a 48-ball 46 to set the tone for his side in Anantapur.

Gaikwad, who posted 5 in the first innings, started the second with consecutive boundaries off Rana, the pick of the bowlers in the first innings. He took 10 runs off the first over bowled by the India D bowler to set the tone for the chase.

Together with Sai Sudharsan, he scorched the bowlers to put the opposition on the back foot. India C brought up their fifty in just 6.3 overs and that was largely thanks to Gaikwad, who hammered seven fours in the 64-run opening stand with Sudharsan.

But the dismissal of Sudharsan did seem to evidently break Gaikwad’s momentum. He was on 38 off 33 balls at the time of the left-hander’s dismissal. From this point onwards, the India C captain went on to score just eight more runs off his next 15 balls before becoming Saransh Jain’s second victim of the day.

At the time of writing this, India C need another 151 runs to win the contest, with eight wickets in hand. 

If you’ve not downloaded the Cricket.com app yet, you’re missing out — big time. Play Fantasy on Cricket.com NOW! Download the App here.