Akash Chopra helps North
offer strong reply
A brilliant, unbeaten ton by opener Akash Chopra helped North Zone reach a comfortable
288 for 6 on the second day of the four-day Duleep Trophy match against Central Zone, in Indore, on Wednesday.
At the draw of stumps, Chopra (113) and Sarandeep Singh (48, 4x7) were at the crease.
Earlier, resuming at 339 for eight, overnight Central
Zone batsmen Devendra Bundela and Sanjay Pande started the
day's proceedings on a confident note. But Pande could not last long. Narendra Hirwani too got
out cheaply and the team was bowled out for 368 in their first
essay, with Bundela remaining not out on 116 (4x20, 2x6).
In reply, North Zone openers Akash Chopra and Vikram
Rathore started fluently adding 62 runs for the first wicket
before Rathore was run out at 33 just before lunch.
J P Yadav then trapped Sangram Singh (10). Akash Chopra
and Shafiq Khan then batted cautiously and added 53 runs for
the third wicket. But Sanjay Pande struck and trapped Shafiq
Khan (28) leg before.
Skipper Mithun Minhas was stumped by wicketkeeper Rohit
Jhalani for a duck to give Pande his second wicket.
While Harvinder Singh claimed wicket of Yashpal Singh
(1), Pande bowled out Vijay Dahiya (33, 4x6, 6x1).
Akash Chopra's 113 not out included eighteen hits to the
fence.
South offer strong reply
South Zone made 243 for the loss of two wickets in their first innings in reply to East Zone's
398 all out on the second day of the Duleep Trophy cricket
league match in Bangalore on Wednesday.
Flawless batting by South Zone skipper M S K Prasad, who
remained unbeaten on 93, and Hemang Badani's valuable 65,
helped the side give a fitting reply to East's total.
South started off well with opener S Sriram (34) and
Prasad laying a good foundation. Prasad punished the East Zone bowlers, hitting 12 fours and
two sixes in his 279-minute knock off 183 balls.
After the exit of Sriram, who was caught by Z Zuffri off
L R Shukla, D Vinja Kumar added 23 runs before being caught by
Zuffri off Parag Das's bowling.
Badani, who looked set for a big score, however, had to
retire after developing back pain. Badani struck ten fours and two
sixes in his 65.
Prasad and Vijay Bharadwaj, with 19, were at the crease
when stumps were drawn for the day.
Earlier, East Zone resuming at their overnight score of 341 for
five, were all out for 398, adding only 57 runs.
Apart from Rajeev Kumar Raja (39) and Zuffri (45), the
overnight batsmen, none of the other batsmen could stay for
long.
Yesterday's report
Debang Gandhi helps East to big score
Mail Cricket Editor
