JOIN USA stunning late assault from Cheteshwar Pujara (158 not out) went in vain as India A rode on a fine century from opener Shikhar Dhawan (152) to beat India B by four runs and book a berth in the final of the NKP Salve Challenger Trophy here on Sunday.
Dhawan stroked his way to 152 from 139 balls with the help of 20 fours as India A scored a mammoth 335 for four from their allotted 50 overs.
Chasing the huge total of 336, India B were in a difficult position at the end of the 40th over as they needed 111 runs from the last 10 overs though they had seven wickets in hand.
But then Pujara hit a flurry of fours and sixes in the slog overs as the match went down the wire. He scored 56 runs from 33 balls in the last 10 overs. He hit four fours in the 46th over bowled by Pravinder Awana and then smashed a six each off Harshal Patel and Abhimanyu Mithun.
India B needed 16 runs off the final over but Pujara failed to take his side to victory as only 11 runs could be scored as his side ended at 331 for five.
Pujara’s unbeaten 158 came off 126 balls and he hit 16 fours and two sixes in the process.
Brief scores: India ‘A’: 335/4 in 50 overs (S Dhawan 152, R Uthappa 67, Dinesh Karthik 66) bt India ‘B’: 331/5 in 50 overs (C Pujara 158 n.o.; S Anirudha 63; P Awana 3-69).