Ladda, Badrinath lead India Green to easy win

India Green's bowlers, led by Punjab legspinner Sarabjit Ladda, set up a comfortable six-wicket victory against India Red in Indore. After the bowlers had dismissed India Red for 185, S Badrinath led the chase with a fluent half-century as his team won with 13 overs to spare.

Ladda and Rajasthan fast bowler Pankaj Singh had shared seven wickets between them as India Red collapsed from 106 for 2 to 185 all out. They were earlier off to a poor start after electing to bat when Manish Pandey was trapped leg before by Dhawal Kulkarni in the third over. Parthiv Patel was looking solid at the other end as he drove and cut the seamers for boundaries. However, Pankaj struck a big blow when he had Virat Kohli caught behind for 7.

Then followed the best partnership of the innings between Patel and Dinesh Karthik. The duo added 57 in 9.2 overs before Karthik was run out going for a sharp single off Ladda. That was the opening India Green needed, and Ladda barged into it, picking up the next four wickets to finish with career-best figures. He had Saurabh Tiwary caught at point, and then lured Yusuf Pathan, Monish Mishra and Parthiv into holing out down the ground. With Parthiv falling for a well-made 86 off 100 deliveries, India Red had slumped to 162 for 7, having lost four wickets for 56 runs in 14.2 overs. Pankaj - who made his ODI debut against Sri Lanka earlier this year in Harare - returned to clean up the tail to finish with 3 for 36.

India Green were off to a quick start before Vinay Kumar removed the openers, having Naman Ojha caught at short point by Kohli and then trapping S Anirudha in front. Meanwhile, Badrinath was displaying his repertoire of strokes at the other end, taking Ashok Dinda for three boundaries in an over. He pulled a short ball outside off behind square, drove the next one back of a length through the covers, and finished with a pleasing on-drive to a full delivery.

Rohit Sharma joined Badrinath for an 87-run stand, the highest of the match. He matched Badrinath in stroke-making, unfurling the cut, the pull, the drive and the flick with languid ease. He had moved to 48 before he was bowled by a slower one from Dinda, missing the line as it went through the gap between bat and pad. Dinda got Badrinath leg before in his next over for 67, but it was too little, too late for India Red, as India Green got the bonus point for their easy victory.