Fast bowler Vyshak Vijaykumar (five for 76) pulled South Zone back into the contest against North Zone on the penultimate day of their Duleep Trophy semifinal here on Friday.
Vyshak’s second First-Class five-for helped South dismiss North for 211 in the second innings. Set a target of 215, South ended the day on 21 for no loss.
HIGHLIGHTS | Duleep Trophy 2023 semifinals Day 3
For the third straight day, showers and bad light forced interruptions. The M. Chinnaswamy Stadium pitch afforded movement and a hint of low bounce to make things tricky for batters. Vyshak, who struggled to keep the right length in the first essay, got it right the second time around.
The Karnataka pacer used his wits to outsmart a rampaging Prabhsimran Singh. The wicketkeeper-batter looked dangerous in his 93-ball 63, until he fell for a bouncer trap laid by Vyshak. Prabhsimran could not resist the pull, and skied a catch to deep square-leg.
“Prabhsimran was looking to get one or two boundaries every over. So we planned to get him with bouncers, and it worked,” Vyshak said.
Vyshak added that his season with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) helped him understand the nuances of recovery. “I usually did the right things before a game, but not after a game. Now I know how to recover well. (RCB strength and conditioning coach) Basu Shanker and senior players helped me a lot,” Vyshak said.
The 26-year-old stated that since more rain is expected on Saturday, South is likely to have 60 to 65 overs to get the remaining 194 runs.
Left-arm spinner Sai Kishore prised out another big wicket in Ankit Kumar (26, 69b, 3x4). Ankit was early into his shot, and edged a short ball up to mid-wicket.
In the space of two overs, North had fallen from a comfortable 146 for three to 147 for five. Vyshak and Kishore combined to take out the remaining batters in quick succession, save for an entertaining 36-ball 38 from Harshit Rana.
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