Chasing 270 for victory, India Blue reached the target in just 41 overs for the loss of four wickets.

Coming to the crease with his side precariously placed at 55 for three in the ninth over, Kaarthick’s innings had aggression writtten all over it as he spanked the first ball he faced for four. He went on to forge a 47-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Suresh Raina.

After Raina (50 in 45 balls with nine fours) departed with the team’s score at 102 for four, Kaarthick (116 not out in 92 balls) took over the responsibility and clubbed together an unbeaten 168-run partnership with Neeraj Patel. Scoring at a brisk pace, they saw their team cross the 200 mark in the 33rd over.

Kaarthick, who was dropped on 42, reached his 100 off 83 balls, including 11 fours and two sixes. Patel scored an unbeaten 62 off 70 balls.

Earlier, Gautam Gambhir hit a sparkling half-century (82) and shared a 111-run partnership with S Badrinath to help India Red set a challenging target. Thanks to Gambhir’s knock, Red made 269 all out in 49.3 overs after electing to bat first.

Gambhir held one end intact after India Red suffered early setbacks, losing opener Praveen Kumar (1), Karan Goel (4) and skipper Mohammed Kaif (22) early. The Delhi left-hander played some gutsy shots striking seven fours and a six during his 77-ball stay at the crease.

He, along with Badrinath (55) repaired the innings and took the score past the 150-run mark.

India Blue spinners then caused a mini-collapse as Amit Mishra removed Gambhir and clean-bowled Virat Kohli for a duck. Virender Sehwag then scalped Paresh Patel in the very next over. However, Badrinath and wicketkepeer Mahesh Rawat (43 not out) ensured that their team reached a fighting total.

Mishra was the most successful bowler for India Blue as he claimed three wickets for 45 runs. Joginder Sharma and Yomahesh claimed two wickets each.

SCORE BOARD
INDIA RED: Praveen Kumar b Joginder 1, Gautam Gambhir c Joginder b Mishra 82, Karan Goel lbw Joginder 4, Mohammad Kaif c Rahane b Bose 22, S Badrinath lbw Mahesh 55, Virat Kohli c & b Mishra 0, Paresh Patel lbw Sehwag 0, Mahesh Rawat (not out) 43, Shrikant Mundhe st Kaarthick b Mishra 18, Pragyan Ojha c Sehwag b Mahesh 20, Siddharth Trivedi (run out) 5. Extras (LB-10, W-8, NB-1) 19. Total (all out, 49.3 overs) 269.
Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-11, 3-47, 4-158, 5-158, 6-159, 7-191, 8-219, 9-252.

Bowling: Ranadeb Bose 10-0-53-1, Joginder Sharma 7-0-41-2, V Yo Mahesh 9.3-0-56-2, Ramesh Powar 8-0-34-0, Amit Mishra 10-0-45-3, Virender Sehwag 5-0-30-1.

India Blue: Sehwag c & b Mundhe 1; Rahane (run out) 20; A Yadav (run out) 6; Raina b Trivedi 50; Kaarthick (not out) 116; N Patel (not out) 62; Extras (LB-2, W-13) 15. Total (for four wickets in 41 overs) 270.

Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-22, 3-55, 4-102
Bowling: P Kumar 9-0-52-0, S Mundhe 5-0-34-1, S Trivedi 6-1-44-1, P Ojha 9-0-60-0, S Badrinath 2-0-17-0, P Patel 7-0-36-0, M Kaif 1-0-7-0, K Goel 2-0-18-0.