Duleep Trophy final: Centuries from Patidar, Rathod headline Day 2
What's the story
Central Zone claimed a massive 235-run lead over South Zone on Day 2 of the ongoing Duleep Trophy final at BCCI Centre of Excellence Ground, Bengaluru. Centuries from skipper Rajat Patidar and Yash Rathod powered Central Zone to 384/5 at stumps. Meanwhile, Gurjapneet Singh took three wickets for South Zone, who were bowled out for 149 on the opening day. Here's Day 2 report.
Start
CZONE lose three wickets in first session
CZONE resumed from their overnight score of 50/0 on Day 2. While opener Akshay Wadkar (22) fell to V Koushik early on, Malewar completed his half-century. Shubham Sharma's dismissal at 74/2 exposed skipper Patidar to the middle. CZONE further slumped to 93/3 with Malewar's departure. Gurjapneet dismissed him for a 120-ball 53 (5 fours). However, Patidar and Rathod took CZONE to 152/3 at lunch.
Century
Patidar departs after hammering 101
Patidar and Rathod stitched what could be a match-winning partnership. They took the side past 250. The skipper reached his century in the post-lunch session. In the 67th over bowled by Ankit Sharma, he took a single to reach three figures off 112 balls. Gurjapneet broke the 167-run stand in the next over by removing Patidar. He slammed a 115-ball 101 (4s-12 and 6s-2).
Rathod
Rathod reaches his ton
While Rathod held his fort, South Zone took one more wicket before tea in the form of Upendra Yadav (5). Powering Central Zone past 300, Rathod brought up his century in the 82nd over. He took a single off Ankit Sharma to reach three figures in 132 balls. Rathod was joined by Saransh Jain, who took a fifer in the first innings.
Information
SZONE wicketless in final session
While the pitch slowed down, South Zone took the second new ball. However, Central Zone didn't lose a wicket in the final session, with Rathod (137*) and Jain (47*) returning unbeaten. Meanwhile, Gurjapneet was the pick of SZONE's bowlers, taking 16-2-74-3.
Numbers
A look at notable numbers
As per ESPNcricinfo, Malewar slammed his eighth half-century in First-Class cricket. The Vidarbha top-order batter also owns three tons in red-ball cricket. In 12 First-Class matches, the 21-year-old has gone past 1,100 runs with an average of around 57. Patidar, who was coming off back-to-back 50-plus scores, hammered his 15th FC ton. Rathod raced to his seventh First-Class century in addition to eight half-centuries.