Duleep Trophy: Central Zone respond strongly after West Zone’s big total

Central Zone ended Day Two at 229/2 in reply to West Zone’s 438, led by fifties from Malewar and Shubham, and an unbeaten 47 by Patidar in the Duleep Trophy semifinal

Bengaluru: Fifties from Danish Malewar and Shubham Sharma, along with an unbeaten 47 from skipper Rajat Patidar, led Central Zone’s strong reply, as they reached 229/2 in 67 overs at stumps on Day Two of their Duleep Trophy semifinal and trail West Zone by 209 runs at BCCI COE Ground 2 here on Friday.

In the morning, the West Zone were bowled out for 438 in 108 overs, with Ruturaj Gaikwad’s 184 and were supported by fifties from Tanush Kotian (58) and Shardul Thakur (52). But their innings came to a swift end as they lost their last four wickets for 27 runs. Spinners Harsh Dubey and Saransh Jain picked up three wickets each for Central Zone.

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But Malewar’s 76 and Shubham’s 60 not out, along with Patidar being unbeaten on 47 off 59 balls, meant Central Zone are still very much in control of the match. Malewar and Aayush Pandey put on a stand of 67 runs for the first wicket. After Pandey fell for 40, Malewar then added 93 runs for the second wicket with Shubham before falling to Dharmendrasinh Jadeja.

Patidar looked fluent thereafter to be unconquered at stumps alongside Shubham. For the West Zone, their bowlers struggled to maintain consistency, especially with skipper Thakur and Tushar Deshpande being expensive, while Kotian and Jadeja couldn’t sustain pressure.

Previously, in the morning, Kotian had a life when Pandey spilt his catch at the gully off Khaleel Ahmed. Thakur, who resumed the day on 24, quickly reached his half-century off 83 balls, as West Zone got past the 400-mark. But a mix-up with Kotian ensured Thakur was run out, which marked the start of a collapse for West Zone.

Left-arm spinner Dubey came in to breach Kotian’s defences while off-spinner Saransh trapped Jadeja lbw. The duo would eventually end up with three-fers each on a day where the Central Zone got things to move their way.

Brief scores:

West Zone 438 all out in 108 overs (Ruturaj Gaikwad 184, Tanush Kotian 76; Harsh Dubey 3-118, Saransh Jain 3-121) lead Central Zone 229/2 in 67 overs (Danish Malewar 76, Shubham Sharma 60 not out; Arzan Nagwaswalla 1-15, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja 1-38) by 209 runs