Duleep Trophy final: All or none for Central Zone

After South Zone were bowled out for 379, Central Zone batters walked in with a different attitude. With the Kotla wicket showing signs of wear and tear, openers Faiz Fazal and Jalaj Saxena had no problems facing the South Zone pace battery.

Unlike in the first innings, where the pacers troubled Saxena throughout his 43-ball stay, the opener looked in a positive mood. He drove wholeheartedly through the off side and made sure no easy ball went to waste. Saxena, however, couldn’t transform his form from the Duleep semifinal (where he scored 116) in the first innings at Kotla, but in the second he looked poised to score another hundred.

Fazal, on the other end, looked unperturbed and showed a confident and stylish approach. Because he keeps playing with a straighter bat, his straight drives are a delight to watch. In his knock of 72, he displayed the shot twice while he also used the square cut to his advantage.

Little help for seamers

South Zone skipper Vinay Kumar tried to repeat the ploy he had used in the first innings by sticking to the off-stump corridor. But no swing and zero movement off the track made the pacers look innocuous. Instead, both Fazal and Saxena milked boundaries. After seven overs, the spinners were introduced but Fazal dominated them from the start and kept the scorecard ticking. Central were cruising at six runs an over by the end of 10 overs and it seemed they might make a match of it.

Central went past South’s 103-run lead in just 27 overs.

Having completed their individual fifties against spinners, both Fazal and Saxena knew they will have to put a premium on their wickets if Central have to post a big total.

But in the 38th over, when both looked set for three figure marks, Pragyan Ojha found his spot, trapping Saxena in front. Though the opener made the decision look doubtful, the fact was that at 128, Ojha had provided the breakthrough.

Fazal followed next. He played a rash stroke to end his innings on 72. In an effort to check the run flow, Vinay Kumar, who had re-introduced himself into the attack, put a square leg deep on the boundary.

Fazal was by then showing signs of overconfidence, twice jumping out to Ojha to hit him over his head. Vinay did the simplest of things. He invited Fazal to hit him on a short ball. The opener pulled and got caught on the boundary. The plan had worked and Central Zone were under the cloud. Robin Bist stuck to the wicket and toiled throughout the evening to take his score to 26. But for Central Zone, disappointment was always round the corner.

Ojha oozes overconfidence

Naman Ojha walked in. He too started aggressively and reached 27 in just 35 balls. He smashed five fours out of which three came off Vinay Kumar’s over. Twice he hit leggie Shreyas Gopal for boundaries. Ojha for one was expected to fire as his name is on the top of the probables who might get the selectors nod for the Australia tour. But a mix of overconfidence and irresponsibility led to his downfall yet again. On a short and wide delivery from Gopal, he gave catching practice to Robin Uthappa at slips. Central were 195 for three now. Six runs later Ashok Menaria found himself trapped by Gopal and it was 201/4.

Bist and Mahesh Rawat, who were on the crease, are the last recognised batting pair for Central Zone.

They are aware they have lost the game on the first innings count but, with two more days remaining, they can play saviours. Only a big target from here on can save Central Zone from an outright defeat.

Earlier, Ali Murtaza picked up four wickets in the morning to wrap up the South Zone innings on 379. KL Rahul was dismissed by Piyush Chawla on 185 by a sharp-turning googly that found way through his gates. Chawla then got his second wicket in the form of HS Sharath.

Brief scores: South Zone 379 (KL Rahul 185, G Hanuma Vihari 75; A Murtuza 4/59, P Singh 3/67, P Chawla 2/95) vs Central Zone 276 & 214/4 in 62 overs (F Fazal 72, J Saxena 71, R Bist 26 n.o., N Ojha 27; S Gopal 2/43).