CHENNAI: South Zone were in a commanding position thanks to a 580-run lead over North Zone on Day 3 of their Duleep Trophy semifinals in Salem on Saturday. South Zone’s left-arm spinner R Sai Kishore (7-70) played a vital role in North Zone being bowled out for 207 in their opening essay.
A massive 423-run first innings lead notwithstanding, South Zone chose to bat on and ended the day on 157-1 in their second outing. Rohan Kunnummal was dismissed for 77 while Mayank Agarwal (53 batting) and T Ravi Teja (19 batting) were at the crease at stumps.
The day belonged to Sai Kishore who returned with his best figures in First-Class cricket. The 25-year-old got on the wicket-takers’ board when he got rid of the dangerous-looking Yash Dhull (39), caught by keeper Ricky Bhui to leave North Zone on 71-2.
Sai Kishore only had one wicket in the first session but turned things around in the post-lunch session. Sai Kishore got his second wicket, off the second over he bowled after lunch, trapping Himanshu Rana (17) leg-before. In his next over, Sai Kishore had Anmol Malhotra (0) caught by skipper Hanuma Vihari at slip to leave the North Zone on 166-6.
The situation only got worse for North Zone as they lost Nishant Sindhu (40) – their top-scorer --- stumped by keeper Bhui in Sai Kishore’s bowling.
SUMMARISED SCORES: South Zone 630/8 decl (Rohan Kunnummal 143, Hanuma Vihari 134, Ricky Bhui 103*) & 157/1 (Rohan Kunnummal 77, Mayank Agarwal 53*) vs North Zone 207 (Nishant Sindhu 40; R Sai Kishore 7/70).
West Zone 259 (Rahul Tripathi 67, Prithvi Shaw 60; Kumar Kartikeya Singh 5/66) & 371 (Prithvi Shaw 142, Het Patel 67, Armaan Jaffer 49, Kartikeya Singh 3/105) vs Central Zone 128 (Karan Sharma 34, Tanush Kotian 3/17, Jaydev Unadkat 3/24) & 33/2
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