Duleep Trophy: Ruturaj Gaikwad returns with classy 184

BENGALURU: An injury and personal issues kept Ruturaj Gaikwad away from competitive cricket for over four months. The return was lukewarm initially during the Buchi Babu invitational tournament, but he found rhythm in his last outing of the TNCA conducted tournament with a fine century.

On Thursday, Day 1 of West Zone’s Duleep Trophy semifinals against Central Zone here, the 28-year-old was all class and composure. Even as the Shardul Thakur-led side lost a couple of quick wickets in the first session after opting to bat, Gaikwad, who came two down, went about his job with clinical precision. When stumps were drawn, West were 363/6 in 87 overs.


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In an anti-climax to an otherwise impressive innings, Gaikwad’s 324-minute stay at the crease was halted when he stepped out and was beaten by the flight of Saransh Desai's delivery and Central wicketkeeper Upendra Yadav caught him short of the crease. It was a rare occasion when Gaikwad, who chose to play it late otherwise, stepped out. Missing out on a double hundred when he was set for it may have been disappointing, but 206-ball innings (25x4; 1x6) in testing conditions could prove decisive.

Earlier, with the sun playing hide and seek, Central’s new-ball duo of Khaleel Ahmed and Deepak Chahar probed the batters. Gaikwad, in the company of Aarya Desai (39), weathered it while they waited for the spinners to go after.

Once Gaikwad settled down, he stepped on the pedal, bringing up his century in 131 deliveries. Gaikwad started the final session with a bang, dispatching Yash Thakur for three consecutive boundaries. During an exhibition of lofted drive and detectable cuts off a Khaleel Ahmed, Gaikwad struck four boundaries and a maximum, during which he also crossed the 150-mark. Gaikwad shared a crucial 184-ball 148 run association with Tanush Kotian, who remained unbeaten on 65.

Before the rush of runs, the first session belonged to the Central Zone. Yashasvi Jaiswal lasted all of three deliveries and was trapped in front by Khaleel, while Harvik Desai poked a Chahar delivery, which Yash Rathod took at first slip.

Shreyas Iyer (25), playing his first match after the Asia Cup snub, survived a lifeline on nought when Ahmed misjudged a catch. Just when Iyer was getting into the groove, he was done in by a straight delivery from Khaleel, which he attempted to late cut and chopped onto his middle stump.

JAGADEESAN DRIVES SOUTH
In the other semifinals, South opener N Jagadeesan survived a dismissal off a no-ball from Anshul Kamboj and made the most of it against Central Zone. The Tamil Nadu batter was on nine when he nicked a Kamboj delivery to wicketkeeper Kanhaiya Wadhawan, only to be called back after the pacer was found to have overstepped. Over the next five hours, he crafted an unbeaten 260-ball-148 (13x4; 2x6). At stumps, South were 297/3 in 81 overs. The match started half an hour late due to overnight rain and South, asked to bat, got down to business in quick time. Jagadeesan's 103-run opening partnership with Tanmay Agarwal (43) set the tone for the day, and he built on it with southpaw Devdutt Padikkal, who scored a 71-ball 57.

Brief scores: South Zone: 297/3 in 81 overs (Tanmay Agarwal 43, N Jagadeesan 148 n.o., Devdutt Padikkal 57; Nishant Sindhu 2-59) vs North Zone.

West Zone: 363/6 in 87 overs (Aarya Desai 39, Ruturaj Gaikwad 184, Shreyas Iyer 25, Tanush Kotian 64 n.o.; Khaleel Ahmed 2-70, Saransh Jain 2-109) vs Central Zone.