Michael Yardy played a captain’s innings as England Lions roared on the first day of their Duleep Trophy tie against West Zone here at the Moti Baug ground.
Skipper is batting on 151 going into Day Two of the Duleep Trophy game against West Zone BARODA: Michael Yardy played a captain’s innings as England Lions roared on the first day of their Duleep Trophy tie against West Zone here at the Moti Baug ground.
Unconquered Yardy contributed 151 in team total of 273/4 when stumps were drawn on Monday. Electing to bat first, Yardy’s decision seemed to have backfired when last match’s centurion Michael Carberry was adjudged leg before wicket off Ashraf Makda when the scoreboard read one.
Not shying away from responsibility, Yardy walked in at No.3 and got to work in the company of Joe Denly. The left-right combination took the shine of kookaburra ball as the team total touched 50.
However, misfortune struck shortly for the England Lions. Yardy’s drive clipped the fingers of medium-pacer Siddharth Trivedi and ricocheted onto the non-striker’s stumps before Denly could make his ground.
The dismissal didn’t shake the captain. In the company of new partner Ed Joyce, Yardy continued to trouble the West Zone bowlers even as the wicket eased out as the day progressed.
When the spinners came on they employed the sweep shot with great control. Anything too wide or too short was dispatched to the boundary with ease by the duo. Yardy got stuck into Ramesh Powar and the off-spinner was hit for two consecutive boundaries on either side of the wicket. Joyce swept Powar with a sense of ease.
The Sussex batsman completed his half-century with lovely cover drive off Trivedi. But just when it looked like both batsmen were set for a long partnership Parthiv Patel’s strike bowler did the trick again.
He trapped Joyce in front of his stumps reducing England to 126 for three. Now, in the company of Jon Trott, Yardy took on the opposition. Parthiv, the West Zone skipper, rotated his bowlers, but it was in vain as the duo put together a valuable 141-run partnership for the fourth wicket.
Off-spinner Yusuf Pathan failed to make in-roads and left-arm spinner Rakesh Dhruv didn’t trouble the Lions’ batsmen. Sandeep Jobanputra was injured while fielding off his own bowling and could manage only eight overs.
Yardy steered Trivedi to the third man boundary to bring up his century. Meanwhile, Trott efficiently moved towards his half-century. Late in the day, West Zone managed a break through when Parthiv opted for the new ball in the 86th over and Makda had Trott trapped in front of the stumps.
Scorecard
England Lions (1st innings): MA Carberry lbw b Makda 1, JL Denly run out 32, M Yardy not out 151, E Joyce lbw b Makda 32, J Trott lbw b Makda 44, G Onions not out 0
Extras (B4 LB8 NB1) 13
Total (4 wickets; 92 overs) 273
Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-51, 3-126, 4-267
Bowling: S Trivedi 17-0-50-0, A Makda 16-3-57-3, S Jobanputra 8-3-22-0, R Powar 21-1-59-0, R Dhurv 13-2-38-0, Y Pathan 15-6-24—0, A Rahane 2-0-11-0
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