He may not be among the most delightful batsmen to watch,but there are few out there in domestic cricket who are more effective than Abhishek Nayar. On Thursday,the India Blue middle-order batsman produced a match-winning knock of 91 in 74 balls,reviving the team from 66/3 to 270 against Delhi in the opener of the NKP Salve Challenger Trophy in Indore. The knock proved the difference as Delhi lost the match by 18 runs. Walking in at No. 5,and with opener Akshath Reddy holding one end,Nayar kept the scoreboard ticking without showing any signs of hurry. With Reddy,he added 33 runs before the opener attempted and missed a cross-batted shot off Varun Sood only to see the ball crash into his stumps. Reddy made 53 off 77 balls and left Blue at 99/4 in the 25th over. Nayar,however,kept playing with a straight bat. As the match progressed,Delhi skipper Virat Kohli tried his best to put pressure on the two new batsmen by changing his field constantly. However,it was to no avail as Nayar soon took control. Almost every short ball was punished with a pull shot for a boundary. His knock contained 12 fours,of which one-third came in this manner. When,in order to curb the run rate,Kohli set a normal five-four field with fine leg in the circle,Nayar improvised to hit five boundaries in that region. Nayar was severe on left-arm spinner Sood,never allowing him to settle in any sort of rhythm. Pacers Sumit Narwal and Ashish Nehra too were routinely dispatched to boundaries. Parwinder Awana bowled well in the beginning. The Indore wicket helped the seamers with the lateral movement,but as Nayar stepped up,Awana too started pitching it short. Rajat Bhatia was the most successful bowler from the Delhi side as he picked up 3 Approaching three figures,Nayar scooped an easy catch to Kohli at cover off part-timer Milind Kumar. It ended a partnership of 71 between Nayar and Piyush Chawla. Chawla,who made 40* off 50 balls,added another 43 runs with Bhuvneshwar Kumar (29* off 23) to take the team to a challenging total. Bhuvneshwar came back and dismissed opener Mohit Sharma and Virat Kohli quickly,leaving Delhi reeling early on in their chase. Sehwag did raise hopes,but after his departure,Delhi lost their way,despite Bhatia's fighting half-century. Brief scores: India Blue 270 for 6 in 50 overs (A Nayar 91,A Reddy 53 ; R Bhatia 3/46); Delhi 252 all out in 47.5 overs (R Bhatia 65,V Sehwag 59; B Kumar 3/58)
