South make spirited reply

South Zone made a spirited reply, scoring 296 for two, to West Zone's first inning total of 376, on the second day of the four-day Duleep Trophy cricket match at the Lalbhai Contractor stadium in Surat on Friday.

A brilliant knock of 99 runs by S Ramesh, and a good partnership between V V S Laxman (80 not out) and Rahul Dravid (60 not out) steered South to a comfortable position by close of play on the second day.

Resuming at the overnight score of 310 for three wickets, West's batsmen could only add 66 runs before being all out for 376.

For South, medium fast bowler Doda Ganesh was the most successful bowler with figures of 81 for four in 29 overs, while Sunil Joshi took three wickets and off spinner Ashish Kapoor and left arm spinner V Raju claimed one wicket each.

When South batted, S Sriram, who faced 95 balls, was caught behind by wicketkeeper and skipper Nayan Mongia at 38, off the bowling of Iqbal Siddiqui.

Ramesh made most of the opportunity, hitting 19 boundaries, before he was bowled for 99, in 99 balls, by Sairaj Bahutule.

V V S Laxman and Rahul Dravid added 140 runs and were at crease at close, with 80 and 60 runs respectively. Laxman faced 111 balls had 12 hits to the fence, while Dravid's 60 came off 105 balls and had seven boundaries.

In the morning, West caved in meekly. Jacob Martin, who scored a classy 85, with 12 boundaries on Thursday, could add only four runs before he was caught in second slip by Laxman off Doda Ganesh's first over.

Southpaw Vinod Kambli, who started the day on 48, was caught and bowled by Doda Ganesh in the fifth over of the day for 56. He faced 69 balls which included nine hits to the fence and a huge six in his 102-minute stay at the crease.

Abhijit Kale was run-out for 1 from a direct throw to the stumps from Sriram.

Much was expected from Mongia, but he fell for only one run off the bowling of Ashish Kapoor, caught at slip point by Laxman.

Sairaj Bahutule was caught by Raju off Ganesh for 19 runs while Ajit Agarkar was caught by wicketkeeper Naidu for 15. Lalit Patel was clean bowled by Sunil Joshi for a duck and Iqbal Siddiqui was unbeaten on 13, which included one six.

Scoreboard

West Zone (1st innings):

Connor Williams c Badani b Joshi 20
Wasim Jaffer c Dravid b Raju 49
Hrishikesh Kanitkar c Ganesh b Joshi 95
Jacob Martin c Laxman b Ganesh 89
Vinod Kambli c and b Ganesh 56
Abhijit Kale run out 1
Nayan Mongia c Laxman b Kapoor 1
Siraj Bahutule c Raju b Ganesh 19
Ajit Agarkar c Naidu b Ganesh 15
Lalit Patel b Joshi 0
Iqbal Siddiqui not out 13
Extras: (B8, LB6, NB4) 18
Total: 376 all out in 111.1 overs
Fall of wickets: 1-58, 2-101, 3-230, 4-314, 5-323, 6-323, 7-330, 8-360, 9-363, 10-376.
Bowling: Doda Ganesh 29-12-81-4
Shahbuddin 25-8 -66-0
Sunil Joshi 20.1-1-78-3
Ashish Kapoor 26-1-95-1
V Raju 11-2-42-1

South Zone (1st innings):
S Sriram c Mongia b Siddiqui 38
S Ramesh b Bahatule 99
V V S Laxman not out 80
Rahul Dravid not out 60
Extras: (LB2, W2, NB15) 19
Total (for two wickets in 66 overs):: 296
Fall of wickets: 1-139, 2-155
Bowling:
Ajit Agarkar 13-3-36-0
Iqbal Siddiqui 17-2-103-1
Lalit Patel 11-2-51-0
Sairaj Bahutule 22-3-90-1
H Kanitkar 3-0-14-0

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