Central Zone gain massive upper hand against South Zone after Day 1 courtesy Saransh Jain and Kumar Kartikeya.
Saransh Jain, Kumar Kartikeya hand Central Zone big advantage.
On the first day of the Duleep Trophy final, the Central Zone spinners swept past South Zone, with Saransh Jain taking his second consecutive five-wicket haul and Kumar Kartikeya finishing with a four-for.
At the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence, South Zone was bowled out for 149 in 63 overs against hazy conditions on a greenish-tinged pitch after Jain took 5 for 49 and Kartikeya returned 4 for 53. Danish Malewar and Akshay Wadkar, the openers for the Central Zone, responded steadily until the first day was cut short due to terrible light.
Central Zone was 50 for 0 at stumps, barely 99 runs behind South Zone.
Mohit Kale and Tanmay Agarwal, South Zone’s new opening duo, added 24 runs in 15 overs while enduring the new-ball turbulence. Kale attempted a slog when spin was added in the sixteenth over, but Kartikeya cleaned him up.
R Smaran was caught at square leg 1 after he quickly swiped Kartikeya across the line, but he was only able to manage a top-edge.
Kartikeya and Jain worked together, and there were instant indications of increased zip and bounce. Tanmay Agarwal was then lost by South Zone in a run-out. Looking for a second run, Tanmay and Ricky Bhui collided in the middle and the former was found well short.
When South Zone went to lunch at 64 for 4, Kartikeya scored his third run after South Zone skipper Mohammed Azharuddeen was dismissed for 4. After lunch, Jain joined in on the excitement of taking wickets, trapping Bhui leg before wicket.
Salman Nizar went on the offensive against Kartikeya, hitting for a six and four in 13 balls to get off to a quick start. Kartikeya was also nipped by Andre Siddarth through mid-on for four. However, when Siddarth waltzed to Jain, his anger overcame him, and he was defeated during the flight and stumped as South Zone fell to 97 for 6. When Jain got a length ball to kick off the surface and slap Nizar’s gloves, Patidar took a low catch at slip, turning the score to 116 for 7.
Ankit’s spin at one end and Gurjapneet’s left-arm pace at the other marked the beginning of South Zone.
They reached the 50-mark in 17 overs as Wadkar and Malewar started the attack by hitting Gurjapneet for three fours in an over. Wadkar was the target of Ankit’s lbw claim, but replays showed that the ball would have obviously missed leg stump.
Late in the day, Koushik managed to get the ball moving, but the two hitters held firm.