duleep trophy

Bengaluru: Clouds over the M Chinnaswamy stadium and interim showers ensured the ground staff spent more time on the field than the cricketers on Thursday. Only 49 overs of play were possible on Day 2 of South Zone’s Duleep Trophy semifinal against North Zone. In such a scenario, it was crucial that the hosts took time by the forelock, but it turned out to be a case of wasted opportunities. Given the depth in the South Zone’s batting line-up, surpassing North Zone’s first innings tally of 198 was never a tall order. But they folded up for 195, handing North a three-run innings lead. North were 51/2 in 11 overs, with a crucial lead of 54 runs when bad light stopped play. Overnight batters Mayank Agarwal (76, 115b; 10x4) and Tilak Varma (46, 101b; 5x4; 1x6) held the innings together with their well-paced 110-run partnership. The onus was on the duo to steer their team to safety, but the first to head back to the pavilion was Agarwal, poking a short ball from left-arm spinner Jayant Yadav (3/38) to Ankit Kumar at forward short leg in the third over after lunch. This sent Tilak into a shell, his only extravagant shot being a pull over fine leg for a maximum off Vaibhav Arora (3/57). South’s batting unravelled when Washington Sundar handed Prashant Chopra a catch off Yadav at gully. Soon, pacer Arora dismissed Varma and KV Sasikanth off consecutive deliveries. At 165/8, South was still in with a chance of taking the lead. Chopra dropped Vidwath Kaverappa and in the following over, byes were handed on a platter and Sai Kishore survived a stumping attempt. But the tailender fell to Yadav three deliveries later. Pacers continued to call the shots in West Zone’s last-four contest against Central Zone. While the batters didn’t put up a fight, the bowlers ensured the defending champions seized control with the first innings advantage at the KSCA Alur ground.. West were bowled out for 220 in the third over of the day. In reply, Central were rattled by the pacers, led by left-arm seamer Arzan Nagwaswalla (5/74) and eventually folded up for 128. Atith Sheth, who was the top-scorer for his side, impressed with the ball. The right-arm pacer claimed 3 for 27 while Chintan Gaja accounted for two wickets. In their second essay, Prithvi Shaw (25, 26b, 5x4) seemed like a man in a hurry as he and his opening partner Priyank Panchal (15) were back in the dressing room by the eighth over. Cheteshwara Pujara (50 batting) and Suryakumar Yadav (52) figured in a 95-run partnership for the third wicket. When stumps were drawn, West were 149/3 with a 241-run lead.