The Duleep Trophy encounter between South Zone and East Zone is heading for a tantalising finish.
South and East Zones are poised for an exciting finish in the Duleep Trophy match
MUMBAI: The Duleep Trophy encounter between South Zone and East Zone is heading for a tantalising finish. While South require another 160 runs for victory, East need seven wickets. South were 113 for three at stumps chasing a target of 273 with skipper S Badrinath (42 not out) and LN Prasad Reddy (0 not out) at the crease.
For South, everything will depend on how they negotiate the first session tomorrow. If they manage to keep wickets in hand then they are in driver’s seat. But with the ball swinging early in the morning it will be a difficult against the likes of Ranadeb Bose, Debasis Mohanty and SS Paul — all capable of capitalising on favourable conditions.
South had a bad start to their chase, losing opener Murali Vijay in the very first over, bowled by Mohanty. But what followed was sheer entertainment, as Ravi Teja went on the offensive taking it to the East Zone bowlers, especially Ranadeb Bose who ended the day with sorry figures (6-0-38-0).
Teja and Badrinath shared a second-wicket stand of 81 before his whirlwind innings was brought to end by left-arm spinner Tushar Saha. His innings of 54 came off 59 balls, which included eight boundaries and one six. Saha then got rid of Arjun Yadav (12).
Earlier, South’s bowlers brought them back into the game as they restricted East to 163. Had it not been for a gutsy knock by wicketkeeper Halhadar Das (52 not out) and A Anustup Majumdar (44), East’s innings would have been stuck in the doldrums. For South, off-spinner R Ashwin led the charge with figures of 3 for 33, well supported by Pragyan Ojha (2 for 54), Vijay Kumar (2 for 28) and NC Aiyappa (2 for 20).
Scorecard:
East Zone 313 and 163 all out in in 64.5 overs (H Das 52*, A Majumdar 44; R Ashwin 3-33, NC Aiyappa 2-20, Vijay Kumar 2-28, P Ojha 2-54) vs South Zone 204 and 113 for 3 in 29 overs (Ravi Teja 54, S Badrinath 42*; T Saha 2-27)
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