Central Zone's Robin Bist notched up half century to lead fighback
Robin Bist scored half century for Central Zone in the final of Duleep trophy
New Delhi: South Zone’s occasional spinners Baba Aparajith and Hanumana Vihari picked up three of the seven Central Zone wickets to fall as their captain, R. Vinay Kumar, threw as many as eight bowlers into the mix on the opening day of the Duleep Trophy final at the Kotla here on Wednesday. Central Zone — who were 237/7 at stumps — were expected to put up a stiffer challenge with key batsmen like Naman Ojha and Robin Bist in form, but only the latter with a 153-ball 79 managed a respectable score as the South bowlers plugged away on a day three overs were lost to fading light.
Poor shot selection undid the advantage of batting first on a Kotla pitch and even Bist wasted his start after a 200-plus minute stint at the crease as wickets fell around him. Baba Aparajith with 2/26 had the best figures for South while Vinay Kumar, H.S. Sharath, Shreyash Gopal, Pragyan Ojha and Vihari all got a wicket apiece. Central did get stands going — of 65, 68 and 52 for the second, fourth and sixth wickets — but a number of batsmen fell after getting their eye in.
Opener Faiz Fazal scored a patient 49, Ashok Menaria got a 64-ball 37 and skipper Piyush Chawla contributed 30 with Arindam Ghosh batting on 32 but it was the early departures of semi-final centurion Jalaj Saxena (2) and Ojha (4) that dealt the heaviest blow to their chances of a testing first-innings total. Bist fought back after Vinay Kumar had exhausted his pace possibilities and brought spin on early, attacking the slow bowlers with good use of his feet and finding gaps regularly. Fazal and Bist added 65 for the second wicket before Baba Aparajith struck twice in the post-lunch session. He first had Fazal cutting to Vihari and then took Ojha out off a loose shot. Bist, who looked good for a century finally sell to Pragyan Ojha, caught in what was a soft dismissal.
( Source : dc correspondent )
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