Ankit Bawne scored a gutsy century — his ninth in first-class cricket — and Yusuf Pathan blazed his way to a run-a-ball 73 as West Zone took a 43-run lead on Day Two of their Duleep Trophy quarterfinal tie against East Zone in Rohtak on Thursday.
Responding to East's 278, West Zone skipper Cheteshwar Pujara (10) came a cropper, but Maharashtra's Bawne rose to the occasion with a patient 105 (194 balls, 8x4, 2x6) to guide his team to 321/9. He was also involved in a 124-run stand with Pathan, who smashed 10 fours and two sixes.
For East Zone, Tripura seamer Rana Dutta stood out with figures of 5/60, including the scalps of Bawne, Pathan and the highly-rated Vijay Zol (17). He also dismissed Suryakumar Yadav (31) and No. 10 Akshay Darekar (7) to bring up his fourth five-wicket haul in first-class cricket. However, the last-wicket pair of Dhawal Kulkarni (15 batting) and Shardul Thakur (19 batting) defied the opposition by adding 30 runs.
West Zone, who began the day on 10/0, were reduced to 47/4 before Bawne and Yadav steadied the ship with a 74-run stand for the fifth wicket. Yadav's dismissal — caught and bowled by Dutta — would make it 121/5. That brought Pathan to the crease. Taking full advantage of a reprieve — he was on eight when Manoj Tiwary dropped him off Ashoke Dinda's bowling — the Baroda all-rounder upped the scoring rate during his 136-ball partnership with Bawne.
When Pathan fell, the scoreboard read 245/6. Bawne then combined well with Maharashtra teammate Shrikant Mundhe (16), Kulkarni and Darekar to get to his century and also give his side the lead. When Datta dismissed Bawne leg-before, West Zone led by a solitary run. The tail continued the good work.
Brief Scores: West Zone 321/9 in 90 overs (A Bawne 105, Y Pathan 73; R Dutta, A Dinda) vs East Zone 278
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