India Blue won the revamped Duleep Trophy after beating India Red by 355 runs on day five of the final on Wednesday in Greater Noida. India Blue declared their second innings at 179/5, setting India Red an improbable target of 517 runs to win. India Red were then bowled out for just 161, as Ravindra Jadeja (5/76) and Karn Sharma (3/33) spun a web around Yuvraj Singh and his men. The India Red batsmen played a lot of rash shots, which led to their fall. Shikhar Dhawan was the top-scorer with 29.
Despite the India Blue's spinners' performances, it was Cheteshwar Pujara who set up the win with a brilliant double century in the first innings. The 28-year-old was deservedly declared the man of the match. He was aided by Sheldon Jackson, who also scored a hundred, and skipper Gautam Gambhir, who narrowly missed out on one. India Red failed to bowl Blue out in either innings.
Brief scores:
India Blue 693/6 declared (Cheteshwar Pujara 256 not out, Sheldon Jackson 134, Gautam Gambhir 94; Amit Mirsha 2/171) and 179/5 declared (Mayank Agarwal 52, Gautam Gambhir 36; Kuldeep Yadav 3/62) beat India Red 356 (Stuart Binny 98, Amit Mishra 65, Gurkeerat Singh 57; Ravindra Jadeja 5/98, Pankaj Singh 2/47) and 161 (Shikhar Dhawan 29; Ravindra Jadeja 5/76, Karn Sharma 3/33) by 355 runs.