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Suresh Raina has come up with yet another superb innings in recent times ever since his comeback from a knee injury. The dashing Uttar Pradesh left hander came up with a sparkling 92 from 100 balls was not just responsible for India Blue's victory but for also instrumental in having a good contest under lights. Raina's knock had come at a time when his side was in the dumps at 41 for 4.

Virender Sehwag, the India Blue Captain decided to bat first after winning the toss. Sehwag, who is desperately trying to make a comeback in the Indian One Day Team fell to a soft dismissal cheaply. Praveen Kumar did the damage for the fielding side with his sharp inswingers to have the Blues in trouble at 41 for 4 in the 12th over. This was where Mohammad Kaif, the Captain of the India Green side failed to go for the kill which allowed the batting side to comeback strongly. Suresh Raina first put up an 87-run stand with Niraj Patel (35 from 53 with 5 fours) for the fifth wicket and then 49 runs with Joginder Sharma (27 from 33) for the next wicket. Raina deserved a hundred for his fighting knock but was unlucky to miss out by 8 runs. His runs came with 7 fours and 2 sixes in an innings that was filled with sheer timing and power packed punches. Later on, Raina got the Man of the Match award for his efforts. The Blues ended up at a competitive 246 after getting bowled in the final over. They were a couple of useful 20s coming from Amit Mishra (29 from 31 with a four and a six) and Ramesh Powar (21 from 13 with 4 fours) towards the end.

Praveen Kumar and Pragyan Ojha were the two impressive bowlers for the Reds. Praveen doesn't have much pace in the air but has an inswinger that is almost unplayable which is what Ajinkya Rahane, the opener and Dinesh Karthik found. Interestingly both these right handers were dismissed in the first ball they had faced! Praveen had figures of 4 for 42 in his 10 while Hyderabad left arm spinner finished with 1 for 50 in his 10.

A direct hit from Virender Sehwag brought his team in a good position when India Red came out to chase a moderate target under good batting conditions. The batsman dismissed was the experienced Gautam Gambhir in the first over. After that there was a steady influence in the middle in the form of Mohammad Kaif but the runs weren't coming at a healthy rate thanks to a tight opening spell from Ranadeb Bose and Joginder Sharma. Coming at no.3, Kaif couldn't kick on to make a big score as he fell for 42 that came in 59 balls with 8 fours. The chasing side was very much in the hunt through a promising innings from Virat Kohli until he was completely bamboozled by a googly from Amit Mishra.

India Red were at 105 for 4 in 26 overs when Kohli was dismissed. Badrinath, the settled batsman at this time put on a decent partnership with wicket keeper Mahesh Rawat until the former had a similar fate as that of Kohli's. Amit Mishra provided Sehwag with another important breakthrough to reduce the score to 153 for 5 in the 38th. Badrinath made 41 from 52 with 3 fours. The required run rate was always climbing up but Praveen Kumar with a lovely cameo brought the chase under control along with Rawat. However, wickets fell at the wrong time to make it impossible for the chasing side. Praveen Kumar (37 from 30 with 3 fours and a six) and Mahesh Rawat (47 from 64 with 1 four) failed to stay right till the end as their side finished at 234 for 8. Joginder Sharma with 3 for 30 with a maiden in his 10 overs and Amit Mishra with 2 for 40 in his 10 were the most successful bowlers.
 

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