South Zone’s marathon batting effort put it in total control of the Duleep Trophy semifinal against North Zone at the SCF Ground in Salem on Friday.
Wicketkeeper Ricky Bhui’s unbeaten century (103 n.o, 170b, 10x4, 2x6) led South Zone’s feast on Day two. Valuable contributions from the middle-order powered the side to a whopping 630 for eight before North Zone openers Yash Dhull and Manan Vohra reduced the deficit by 24 runs.
As many as five batters crossed the 30-run mark for South Zone on a day that resumed with overnight centurion Hanuma Vihari and Baba Indrajith at the crease. In an early jolt for North Zone, seamer Navdeep Saini suffered a groin injury in his first spell, forcing captain Mandeep Singh to introduce spin as early as the third over of the morning. Saini did not take the field again.
Skipper Vihari looked unbreachable in defence before left-arm spinner Mayank Dagar wafted one in line to the stumps and trapped him for 134 off a false sweep shot. The middle-order was keen to keep the scoring rate up and Manish Pandey’s brief stand with Indrajith boosted the cause.
Indrajith found his first boundary off his 67th delivery and deftly moved towards his fifth successive First Class fifty-plus score while Pandey kept the spinners at bay with four fours and a six. North Zone briefly levelled the session by snapping both batters in succession. Indrajith (65) was castled by Dagar with a ball that skid off the length as the batter opted to cut off the back-foot. Pandey (35) was next in line as he mistimed a flick off Dagar to the mid-wicket fielder, with the odd ball stopping on length.
North Zone failed to capitalise on the brief passage yet again as wicketkeeper Ricky Bhui and Krishnappa Gowtham reassumed control to put South at 474/4 at Lunch. The duo entertained with an array of bludgeoning strokes off the spinners - down the ground and over mid-wicket. The exciting partnership also cost South Zone five penalty runs when Bhui was reprimanded for running on the pitch. Gowtham and Bhui then indulged in a race of sorts to their respective half-centuries before the former holed out to midwicket on 48.
Bhui remained in control as the hapless spinners failed to seize their chances when the ball lent some grip and turn in the closing passages of the second session. Another handy knock in the form of T Ravi Teja’s 66-ball 42 kept Bhui on track for his century. The Andhra batter was put under pressure with the close-in field as he reached 97 off 150 deliveries. Bhui kept his guard down and paddle-swept a short delivery 17 balls later through fine-leg to reach his century to set off South’s declaration.
In reply, the North Zone openers Yash Dhull and Manan Vohra saw off the day without breaking a sweat as South began with spinner Sai Kishore and seamer Basil Thampi from either end for five overs before stumps.
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