India Red bowled out for 151 by India Blue

CUTTACK: Barring a brief resistance by Praveen Kumar and captain S Badrinath midway in their innings, India Red fell like a house of cards to be bowled out for a meager 151 by India Blue in the final of the Challenge Series for the NKP Salve Trophy at Barabati Stadium on Sunday.
After a spectacular opening spell by Bengal pacer Ashok Dinda, who again mesmerized the India Red batsmen, Gujarat seamer Siddharth Trivedi (3/23 from nine overs) and Tamil Nadu off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin (2/32 from 9 overs) got their acts together as Reds posted 151 after having opted to bat.
Blue's first six wickets fell for 72 but when it all looked to end in no time, Badrinath (56) and Praveen (35) took the total past 150 with a 66-run partnership.
India Red started on a disappointing note with Blue pacers Irfan Pathan and Ashok Dinda wrecking havoc. Pathan finished with 2/30, while Dinda was the most economical with 2/23 from 8 overs.
Included in place of Wriddhiman Saha, Parthiv Patel disappointed yet again departing without opening his account. Unbeaten centurion in their last match, Rohit Sharma followed Parthiv with Dinda taking the prize scalp - his second - as the score read a dismal 10/2 in 3.5 overs.
Rising to the occasion and well supported by Irfan who restricted the batsmen at the other end, Dinda revelled finishing his first spell of seven overs with 2/21.
Murali Vijay looked fluent as he tried to build on a partnership with his Tamil Nadu captain Badrinath. But just when the duo were looking to break loose, Trivedi put a premature end to their 37-run third wicket partnership.
Vijay (30 from 37 balls) looked set en-route his knock which was studded with a huge six over long on and three fours.
Badrinath remained a mute spectator as it was a touch-and-go case at the other end with Jayadev Shah (4), Abhishek Nayar (4) and Piyush Chawla (3) departing in quick successions.
Just when Red were looking to fold up in less than 100 with the scorecard reading a precarious 72 for six in 21.5 overs, Badrinath and Praveen salvaged some pride. Badrinath hit five fours in his 95-ball knock, while Praveen Kumar entertained the packed Sunday crowd with two fours and one six en route to his 37-ball knock.
But after the Meerut all-rounder's departure, it was just a formality as India Red folded in 43 overs.
Yuvraj Singh has made two changes in the Blue line-up, bringing in Ajinkya Rahane and Siddharth Trivedi in place of Arjun Yadav and Pradeep Sangwan.
In Red's line-up, Faiz Fazal, Manoj Tiwary and Wriddhiman Saha had made way for Jaydev Shah, Parthiv Patel and Vinay Kumar.