North on run spree

Openers Vijay Dahiya and Vikram Rathore slammed Central Zone all around the park to power North Zone to a commanding 391-4 in their first innings in the Duleep Trophy match, in Delhi, on Thursday.

However, the hosts' hopes of an outright victory look bleak with the wicket providing no help to the bowlers.

North skipper Rathore made 94 but lost a chance to score a deserving century after he had raised 188 runs for the opening wicket with Dahiya (81).

In-form Dinesh Mongia was batting on 78 along with with India youngster Reetinder Singh Sodhi on 44 when stumps were drawn on the first day at the Ferozshah Kotla.

Rahul Kanwat, who returned with the figures of 2 for 50 off nine overs, was the most successful bowler as Test player Murli Kartik, Devender Bundela and J P Yadav all got a hammering from the North batsmen.

Requiring eight points to cement their claim on the Duleep Trophy, North will now look to get past the 500 mark and then try and bowl out Central twice in over two days.

The hosts have 18 points from three encounters and this being their last match, they would like to win the trophy with a clear point margin. South, who have eight points, can theoritically win the title if North settle with five points from this tie.

Put in to bat, the North openers made merry despite chilly winds sweeping across the ground as Central Zone speedsters Shalabh Srivastava and J P Yadav failed to extract any swing.

Dahiya, aiming to cement his place in the Indian team, especially after veteran Nayan Mongia got a clean-chit from the BCCI in the match-fixing scandal, struck 15 fours in a determined show of batting.

His captain was in an equally punishing mood as the two shredded the Central attack to pieces.

J P Yadav (1/89) finally induced Rathore to play a weak shot and was caught behind the wicket by Abhay Sharma for 94 that included 19 hits to the fence.

Dahiya soon followed as he returned in similar fashion when on 81, but this time the bowler was Kanwat.

Young Yuvraj Singh and Dinesh Mongia came together for what seemed another strong partnership, but Yuvraj's over exuberance ground him soon.

After having hit eight fours, two of them on successive deliveries off Kanwat, Yuvraj misjudged a ball from the same bowler and played on the stumps to end his brief knock of 34 runs leaving North 226 for three.

Delhi's middle order bat Virender Sehwag, hoping to get into the India probables' list, played an attacking game as he complied 43 off 48 balls, hitting eight fours, and added 78 runs for the fourth wicket with Bundela.

Dinesh Mongia then batted cautiously with Reetinder Singh Sodhi to guide North near to the 400-run mark.

Scoreboard

North Zone:
V Dahiya c A Sharma b Kanwat 81
V Rathore c A Sharma b Yadav 94
Y Singh b Kanwat 34
D Mongia batting 78
V Sehwag b Bundela 43
R S Sodhi batting 34
Extras (b-2, lb-1, nb-24) 27
Total (for 4 wkts, 90 overs) 391
Fall of wickets: 1-188, 2-197, 3-226, 4-304.
Bowling: Shalabh Srivastava 20-5-77-0, J P Yadav 22-4-89-1, Devender Bundela 16-1-85-1, Murli Kartik 23-1-87-0, Rahul Kanwat 9-2-50-2.

Mail Cricket Editor