Cuttack, Oct. 25: Robin Uthappa rode his luck to make 76 as India Blue were dismissed for 218 in 44.2 overs against the Greens in the Challenger Series for the NKP Salve Trophy at the Barabati Stadium here on Saturday.Following overnight rains, the match, crucial for Green’s aspiration for Sunday’s summit clash, started an hour late with the umpires deciding to make it a 45-over a side affair.Under overcast conditions and intermittent drizzle, Blue made a slow start after they were put into bat.Though dropped by Mohammed Kaif at slips in the second ball of the innings, Virat Kohli 9 from 15 balls could not make the most of his luck as he became Rudra Pratap Singh’s first victim.With a big knock eluding him for long, Yuvraj Singh’s hopes of making good in this innings went up in smoke when he went after an outswinger off R.P. Singh only to see the ball angling in and crashing on to his stumps.The Punjab batsman, who made six in the first match, managed just three runs in eight balls.India discard Dinesh Kaarthick 10 from 27 balls and Arjun Yadav 16 from 21 followed their skipper to the dressing room soon after while Uthappa held on at the other end with the Blue scorecard reading a disappointing 87/4 after 21.5 overs.Uthappa made full use of his two chances — one when he was castled only to be erroneously adjudged no-ball by Shavir Tarapore and later when R.P. Singh dropped a catch to complete his second half-century in the tournament.Uthappa’s innings came to an end when local boy Pragyan Ojha trapped him in front of the wicket. He hit three sixes and five fours in his 88-ball stay.Yogesh Takawale made a fluent 34 50 balls which included three boundaries and one six and with Uthappa, forged a 58-run partnership for the fifth wicket that steadied the ship.Towards the end, the crowd was treated to some lusty hitting from Irfan Pathan before he was dismissed by elder brother Yousuf.The younger Pathan made 28 from 33 balls which included three fours. Yusuf was the pick of the bowlers taking three wickets while Manpreet Gony and R.P. Singh bagged two wickets each. — PTI