Aakash Chopra fell 12 short of a double hundred as North Zone rode on a run feast to be firmly entrenched in the driver’s seat on the third day of the Duleep Trophy final against Sri Lanka A
KOLKATA: Aakash Chopra fell 12 short of a double hundred as North Zone rode on a run feast to be firmly entrenched in the driver’s seat on the third day of the Duleep Trophy final against Sri Lanka A here on Tuesday. With two full days’ play remaining, North seem to be within sniffing distance of the title after having opened up a mammoth 331-run first innings lead on a docile track at the Eden Gardens.
Apart from Chopra’s brilliant 188, Yashpal Singh struck a fluent 77, Joginder Sharma plundered 72, while wicketkeeper batsman Mahesh Rawat remained unbeaten on 96 as North reached 627 for 7 at close in reply to Sri Lanka A’s first innings total of 296.
Resuming at 321 for 2, North Zone lost skipper Mithun Minhas (29) in the very second over of the day. Minhas was rapped on the pad by an incoming ball from pacer Ishara Amarasinghe. Chopra and Yashpal Singh then added 88 runs for the fourth wicket before left-arm spinner Rangana Herath plotted the dismissal of the discarded India opener.
The Delhi batsman shouldered arms to a straight delivery that hit him on the pad and he seemed dissatisfied over the decision. The right hander struck 26 boundaries and faced 400 balls during his chanceless knock, that took all of 574 minutes.
Yashpal was then joined by Mahesh Rawat, and the two stitched together a 79-run partnership in 108 minutes, that saw North comfortably placed at lunch (426 for 4). Yashpal (156b, 236 mins, 7x4) finally departed with the score at 490 when he became the third batsman in the morning to fall to a leg before decision. Jehan Mubarak was the successful bowler.
Sri Lanka A 1st innings: 296
North Zone 1st innings (321/2 overnight): A Chopra lbw b Herath 188, G Gambhir b Amarasinghe 7, R Ricky c Samaraweera b Amarasinghe 122, M Manhas lbw b Amarasinghe 29, Yashpal Singh lbw b Mubarak 77, M Rawat batting 96, J Sharma c C Silva b Herath 72, S Rana c C Silva b Herath 0, Gagandeep Singh batting 1, Extras (b 6, lb 12, nb 15, w 2) 35. Total (for 7 wickets, 189 overs) 627.
Fall of wickets: 1-51, 2-265, 3-323, 4-411, 5-490, 6-614, 7-618.
Bowling: Ganegama 31-6-104-0, Prasad 29-3-116-0, Amarasinghe 36-2-115-3, Herath 65-13-201-3, Mubarak 15-1-34-1, Chamara Silva 10-0-29-0, Samaraweera 3-0-10-0.
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