Team India will enter the upcoming limited-overs series against England on a positive note after beating Northamptonshire by 10 runs in their second warm-up match on Sunday (July 3) after an impressive performance from the bowlers. India had earlier defeated Derbyshire by seven wickets.
Harshal Patel smashed 54 off 36 balls to take India out of a precarious 149 for eight after the visiting bowlers bowled out the county team for 139 with three balls to spare. Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan, Yuzvendra Chahal and Harshal picked up two wickets each as Northamptonshire failed to surpass India’s totals.
Earlier, being asked to bat first, India opened the match losing Sanju Samson on the very first ball of the match, the successful bowler being captain Joshua Cobb. One-down bat Rahul Tripathi also didn’t last long but more trouble awaits for India as pacer Brandon Glover sent Suryakumar Yadav back in the third over to bowl out the visitors for 8/3.
Respect Mantra.
Even more honor to spell in Benny in July. pic.twitter.com/hnPQ5OaiOO— Northamptonshire CCC (@NorthantsCCC) 3 July 2022
Glover took two consecutive wickets to propel Northamptonshire to the top and a 43-run stand for the fourth wicket steadied the ship. However, Ishan Kishan, who made 16 off 20 balls, fell to left-arm spinner Freddy Heldreich and ended the brief partnership. It signaled the arrival of Dinesh Karthik and the seasoned campaigner went straight into the groove with some boundaries and a six.
However, Karthik was dismissed for 34 runs in 26 balls, as India were reduced to 72 for five at the start of the 12th over. Venkatesh Iyer scored 20 off 22 balls, but it was Harshal who did the bulk of the scoring when India needed runs to post a challenging total. Harshal hit five fours and three sixes in his scintillating innings.
For Northamptonshire, Brandon Glover was the most successful bowler with figures of 3/33, while medium pacers Nathan Buck and Heldreich had two wickets each.
Brief Scores: India 149/8 in 20 overs (Harshal Patel 54, Dinesh Karthik 34; Brandon Glover 3/33) bt Northamptonshire 139 in 19.3 overs (Saif Zaib 33; Avesh Khan 2/16, Yuzvendra Chahal 2/25)
(with PTI input)