Central Zone was well-served by left-arm spinner Ali Murtaza’s four-wicket strike that restricted South Zone to 379 in its first innings on the third morning of the Duleep Trophy final here on Friday. At close, Central had established an overall lead of 111 runs with six wickets in hand.
Resuming at 308 for four, South faltered and lost the momentum against Murtaza’s sustained spell. After skipper Piyush Chawla foxed K. L. Rahul on a defensive prod, the South innings crumbled with the last five wickets contributing a mere 20. This was in sharp contrast to the character the team showed on the second day.
Vihari was the one to impress with his exceptionally timed strokes. He had mostly played second fiddle to Rahul but gifted his wicket when looking set to dominate. Rahul was dismissed for 185 (233 balls, 19x4, 2x6) while Vihari, who faced 97 balls, hit ten fours and two sixes.
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Central was a transformed side when it batted the second time with openers Faiz Fazal and Jalaj Saxena demonstrating a refreshingly positive approach. They played their shots and grew in confidence to put on a 128 runs.
Saxena (71, 119 balls, 15x4) fell to his first false stroke. Soon, Fazal, batting attractively for his 139-ball knock 72 (11x4), succumbed to indiscretion when he swung and unerringly found the only fielder in the deep. It was a tame end to a brilliant innings.
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Central Zone — 1st innings: 276.
South — 1st innings: Robin Uthappa lbw b Saxena 80, K.L. Rahul b Chawla 185, B. Aparajith c N. Ojha b Pankaj 21, Dinesh Karthik lbw b Pankaj 0, R. Prasanna c N. Ojha b Pankaj 0, Hanuma Vihari b Murtaza 75, S. Gopal (not out) 13, R. Vinay Kumar lbw b Murtaza 2, A. Mithun lbw b Murtaza 0, P. Ojha c Saxena b Murtaza 1, H.S. Sharath c & b Saxena 0; Extras (lb-2): 2; Total (in 90.3 overs) 379.
Fall of wickets: 1-168, 2-231, 3-231, 3-233, 4-233, 5-359, 6-363, 7-366, 8-370, 9-378.
Central bowling: Pankaj Singh 20-3-67-3, Ishwar Pandey 17-2-72-0, Faiz Fazal 3-0-13-0, Ali Murtaza 13-1-59-4, Piyush Chawla 20.3-3-95-2, Jalaj Saxena 17-0-71-1.
Central — 2nd innings: Faiz Fazal c Aparajith b Vinay 72, Jalaj Saxena lbw b Ojha 71, Robin Bist (batting) 26, Naman Ojha c Uthappa b Gopal 27, Ashok Menaria lbw b Gopal 0, Mahesh Rawat (batting) 11; Extras (b-6, lb-1): 7; Total (for four wkts. in 62 overs): 214.
Fall of wickets: 1-128, 2-160, 3-195, 4-201.
South bowling: Vinay Kumar 10-1-56-1, A. Mithun 8-1-25-0, Pragyan Ojha 22-7-52-1, S. Gopal 10-2-43-2, H.S. Sharath 9-3-22-0, B. Aparajith 3-1-9-0.