Murali Century Leads India Red to Final

Nagpur: Murali Vijay (104) smashed a splendid century and shared a 155-run stand with Shikhar Dhawan (68) as India Red trounced India Green by eight wickets to move to the final of NKP Salve Challenger tournament on Friday.

Chasing a modest 224 to win, India Red dashed the target with 11.2 overs to spare to earn a bonus point as Vijay and Dhawan set up the comprehensive victory with their opening stand at VCA stadium.

The India Red batsmen complimented the good work done by their bowlers, who did a fantastic job by restricting India Green to 223 for seven.

India Green's decision to bat backfired as their top order struggled to score.

Fighting half-centuries by Saurabh Tiwary (66) and Sikkanth Anirudha (58) helped them put up something fight-able on the board.

Munaf Patel was the most successful bowler for India Red with his three wickets but he was expensive as well as he leaked 57 from his 10 overs. R Ashwin (2/40) took two wickets.

Vijay and Dhawan laid a solid platform for the win as they batting quite freely.

After getting a feel of the wicket, they started playing their strokes and were hardly troubled by the India Green bowlers, who cut a sorry figure on Friday.

Brief score
India Green: 223/7 (Tiwary 66, Anirudha 58)
India Red: 229/2 (Vijay 104, Dhawan 68)
Result: India Red win by eight wickets
Points: India Red 5, India Green -1

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