Easwaran makes 143*, but Kamboj's five-star show puts India C in the driver's seat
Written by I Dig SportsIndia B 309 for 7 (Easwaran 143*, Jagadeesan 70, Kamboj 5-66) trail India C 525 by 216 runs
Day three began with India B on 124 for 0. The opening pair of Easwaran and N Jagadeesan were looking to build towards overcoming India C's first-innings score of 525, but Kamboj struck in the day's fourth over, dismissing Jagadeesan for 70.
That triggered a slide that had India B sipping to 194 for 5, with each of those dismissals belonging to Kamboj. After getting Jagadeesan caught behind, the seam-bowling allrounder had both Khan brothers - Musheer (1) and Sarfaraz (16) - dismissed lbw, and then followed it up with the wickets of Rinku Singh (6) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (2). While Ishan Kishan caught Rinku off Kamboj, Reddy was out bowled.
However, Easwaran, from an overnight score of 51, could not be dislodged through the day. He brought up his 24th first-class century after lunch, and with the help of 12 fours and a solitary six finished the day seven short of his 150. With Washington Sundar (13), he added a 43-run sixth-wicket stand, and with Sai Kishore (21), he stitched a 46-run partnership for the seventh wicket.
The two promising lower-order partnerships were ended by Vijaykumar Vyshak and Mayank Markande respectively, while Rahul Chahar (18*), coming in at No. 9, saw off the last eight overs with Easwaran on a day when only 65 overs were bowled.