VIJAYAWADA (India), Feb 15: A superb double century from opener Gautam Gambhir helped the Indian Board President’s XI pile up 361 for three at the end of the first day in their three-day match against Zimbabwe Friday.
The visitors, playing their first match of the tour, were smashed around the ground by the 19-year-old Delhi left-hander, who hammered 39 boundaries in his 284-ball innings of 218.
Gambhir was finally out in the 93rd over of the day, caught in the slips by Andy Flower off medium-pacer Mpumelelo Mbangwa.
Gambhir was involved in three big partnerships — 87 for the opening wicket with Gagan Khoda (41), 175 for the second wicket with captain Rahul Dravid (50), and 94 for the third wicket with Abhijit Kale. Kale was unbeaten on 40 at stumps.
Earlier, Dravid won the toss and elected to bat on a pitch that offered no help to pace bowlers. Left-arm spinner Raymond Price was the only bowler who looked effective as he took two wickets for 102 runs in his 26 overs.
Zimabawe arrived in India Wednesday for a two-Test and a five-match one-day series. The first Test starts in the central city of Nagpur from Thursday.
INDIAN BOARD PRESIDENT’S XI (1st Innings):
G. Gambhir c A. Flower b Mbangwa 218
G.K. Khoda c Friend b Price 41
R.S. Dravid c Taibu b Price 50
A. Kale not out 40
P. Mullick not out 0
EXTRAS (B-1, LB-3, W-1, NB-7) 12
TOTAL (for three wkts, 97 overs) 361
FALL OF WKTS: 1-87, 2-262, 3-356.
TO BAT: Y. Rao, M.S.K. Prasad, Sharandeep Singh, T. Yohannan, A. Mishra, A. Nehra.
BOWLING (to-date): Streak 17-7-52-0 (1nb); Watambwa 17-2-84-0 (4nb, 1w); Friend 11-1-56-0 (2nb); Price 26-5-102-2; Mbangwa 19-8-41-1; Gripper 7-0-22-0.—Reuters