Duleep Trophy: Anshul Kamboj stars with 8-wicket haul for India C in drawn game

Anshul Kamboj ran through India B’s batting order on Day 4 of the fourth match of the Duleep Trophy 2024 as he registered his best bowling figures in first class cricket.

Kamboj picked up a sensational 8/69 to bundle out India B for 332 in their first innings and helped India C take a massive 197-run lead. In the second innings, India C took their lead forward to 321 being 128/4 when both captains decided to shake hands for a draw on Day 4 of the match at Rural Development Trust Stadium B, Anantapur.

The day began with India B resuming their innings on 309/7 with Abhimanyu Easwaran (143*) and Rahul Chahar (18*) at the crease. Chahar failed to add a single run to his overnight score and was cleaned up by Kamboj for 18 (34). The speedster further shattered Navdeep Saini’s stumps for a duck.

The Haryana pacer was relentless and ended up dismissing Mukesh Kumar (4 off 5) as well to bundle out India B for 332. Earlier on Day 3, the 23-year-old got the big scalps of Narayan Jagadeesan (70), Musheer Khan (1), Sarfaraz Khan (16), Rinku Singh (6) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (2) to register his first five-wicket haul of first-class career. Abhimanyu Easwaran carried his bat for India B with a scintillating knock of 157.

India C take the top spot

Later in the second innings, India C lost Sai Sudharsan early in the innings as he lost his stumps against Mukesh Kumar. After an early wicket, Ruturaj Gaikwad (62) and Rajat Patidar (42) got involved in a 96-run stand to take their team past 100.

India B managed to end their partnership with Rahul Chahar and Musheer Khan accounting for them respectively. Ishan Kishan (1) departed cheaply as he got cleaned up by Chahar. After a flurry of wickets, Baba Indrajith (5*) and Abhishek Porel (4*) batted for three overs and took their team to a massive lead of 321 runs.

However, with no time remaining in the game, captains Ruturaj Gaikwad and Abhimanyu Easwaran shook hands for a draw. Following the draw, India C rose to the top of the Points table with nine points to their name from two matches while India B are ranked on second spot with seven points.