India A vs India D, Duleep Trophy 2024: Pratham Singh and Tilak Verma hit their respective centuries and shared a 104-run stand for the second wicket to give India A a solid lead against India D on the third day of the Duleep Trophy second round match at the Gramin Vikas Trust Stadium on Saturday. On a day dominated by batsmen, Pratham (122 off 189 balls) and Tilak (111* off 193 balls) along with Shashwat Rawat’s 64 off 88 balls and skipper Mayank Agarwal’s 56 on the second day helped India A declare their innings at 380/3 in 98 overs, setting India D a mammoth target of 489 runs.
Duleep Trophy 2024: Tilak completed his century in 149 balls
At stumps, India D were 62/1 in 19 overs, needing 426 more runs to register an improbable win. Ricky Bhui (44 ) and Yash Dube (15 ) held the innings together for India D till stumps after the early dismissal of Atharva Tayade, who was dismissed for the second time in the match by Khaleel Ahmed. In the morning, Tilak joined a well-settled Pratham at the crease, who continued in fine form by hitting quick boundaries and reached his century in 149 balls. Tilak was also in fine form early on and hit three boundaries on the off side, but Saransh Jain dropped his catch and gave him a reprieve. After Pratham was dismissed at first slip off Saurabh Kumar, Tilak took over the scoring duties and reached his half-century in the 65th over.
Riyan Parag supported him well by scoring 20 runs in 31 balls, but he was dismissed due to a slog sweep. Rawat played brilliantly during his half-century and supported him well. Tilak completed his fifth first-class century in 177 balls by playing aggressive shots. India A declared their innings five minutes after the tea break. The Tilak-Rawat partnership remained unbroken by scoring 116 runs in 174 balls. India D got off to a bad start as Tayde was caught at mid-on off Khaleel’s ball for zero off five balls in the third over. Bhui, who came at number three, showed aggression in his approach and hit five fours in quick succession off Khaleel and Prasidh Krishna. Bhui then came forward on the pitch and hit fours off Shams Mulani’s balls, while Dubey maintained his hold from the other end and so far they have had an unbroken partnership of 60 runs. Both got one life each before the stumps came.
