India Blue win Challenger Trophy

Opener Tanmay Srivastava scored a run-a-ball 103 while talented Bengal batsman Manoj Tiwary smashed a quick-fire 84 to help India [ Images ] Blue win the NKP Salve Challenger Series with a thumping 140-run victory over India Green in Indore on Monday.

Replying to Blue's challenging score of 287 for seven, India Green were all-out for 147 in 36.4 overs.

India discard Rudra Pratap Singh took three for 20 for the winners.

For the second successive day, India Blue captain Yuvraj Singh [ Images ] opted to bat after winning the toss.

Srivastava and in-form Shikhar Dhawan [ Images ] (44, 51 balls, 4x6, 1x6) added 67 runs before the Delhi [ Images ] batsman was caught by Ravichandran Ashwin at deep square leg off Abhimanyu Mithun's [ Images ] bowling.

Ajinkya Rahane [ Images ] (7) and Yuvraj Singh (12) were both dismissed off leggie Sarabjit Ladda. While Rahane mistimed a pull-shot, Yuvraj was done in by a googly.

At 118 for three, Srivastava was joined by Tiwary, who was fluent from the onset, giving Srivastava a chance to score freely.

The centurion hit nine boundaries, while Tiwary hit seven fours and a six, adding 97 runs for the fourth wicket.

After Srivastava departed in the 41st over, it was Tiwary who single-handedly took the score close to 300 with some delightful strokes.

The Bengal batsman hit Mithun for a four and a six off successive deliveries before falling in deep.

When the Green team batted, they looked completely out of sorts as pacers Rudra Pratap, V Yomahesh and spinners Ravindra Jadeja [ Images ] and Piyush Chawla [ Images ] bowled well.

Robin Uthappa [ Images ] was the top scorer with 30, while S Badrinath, Kedar Jadhav, Aniruddha Srikkanth and Rohit Sharma [ Images ] fell cheaply.