Duleep Trophy final: CZONE continue to dominate SZONE
What's the story
Central Zone have tightened their grip in the ongoing Duleep Trophy final against South Zone in Bengaluru. Day 3 of the contest saw CZONE being bowled out for 511 while responding to SZONE's first innings score of 149/10. Yash Rathod was the star performer for Central Zone, scoring a magnificent 194 runs before getting dismissed. Nevertheless, SZONE have fought well as they were decently placed at 129/2 at stumps on Day 3.
2nd innings
Central Zone take massive lead despite collapse
Central Zone resumed their first innings on Saturday from an overnight score of 384/5. They managed to score a total of 511/10, taking a lead of over 362 runs against South Zone. Rathod and Saransh Jain continued the good work as their 176-run stand ended with the latter's dismissal for 69. Meanwhile, Gurjapneet Singh and Ankit Sharma dismissed four batters each as CZONE lost their last four wickets for just 10 runs.
Rathod
Rathod has been in great form
Rathod made a career-best 194 from 286 balls (17 fours, 2 sixes). He has been impressive in red-ball cricket lately, having scored 87* and 78 against North East Zone in the Duleep Trophy quarter-final. Across 21 First-Class matches, Rathod has completed 1,866 runs, averaging 50-plus. He slammed his seventh First-Class century in addition to eight half-centuries. His previous best FC score was 151.
Saransh
10th Fifty in FC cricket for Saransh
Saransh, who claimed a fifer in the first innings, smoked seven fours en route to his 193-ball 69. He now owns 1,587 runs across 44 FC matches at an average of 27-plus. This was Saransh's 10th fifty (100: 1). This was his second successive fifty, having scored 63* in the semi-final game against West Zone. The game also saw the spinner scalp eight wickets, including a fifer in the second innings.
Gurjapneet
Another four-fer for Gurjapneet Singh
Left-arm pacer Gurjapneet Singh was the pick of the South Zone bowlers, finishing with 4/124 from 28 overs. This was his second successive four-fer as he claimed 4/96 North Zone in the semi-final match. With this spell, Gurjapneet has raced to 21 wickets from six FC matches at 20-plus. This was his second four-fer in the format (5W: 1).
Ankit
Four scalps for Ankit as well
Left-arm spinner Ankit Sharma also dismissed four CZONE batters. He gave away 180 runs from 44.1 overs. This was his seventh four-fer in the FC format as he now owns 172 wickets from 69 matches at 39-plus (5W: 9). Meanwhile, pacers MD Nidheesh and Vasuki Koushik also dismissed two batters in the second innings.
3rd innings
SZONE's reply in third innings
SZONE made a decent start to their second innings. Their openers Tanmay Agarwal (26) and Mohit Kale (38) added 62 runs before perishing in quick succession. Smaran Ravichandran (37*) then joined forces with Ricky Bhui (26*) as SZONE did not lose any more wickets on the day. Saransh and Kuldeep Sen took one wicket apiece for CZONE as the batting team finished the day at 129/2. They still trail by 233 runs.