Duleep Trophy - Central Zone 30-0 at stumps

FINAL SESSION

Central Zone went into stumps at 30-0 on day one of the Duleep Trophy tie against South Zone. They trail by 299 runs with openers Tanmay Srivastava (13) and Shivakant Shukla (11) unbeaten at the crease. The day was highlighted by Dinesh Karthik’s cracking ton.

South Zone captain VVS Laxman used three bowlers in the 11 overs of play before stumps were drawn. Former India fast bowlers L Balaji (0-11) and S Sreesanth (0-13) were used besides the solitary over from promising young off-spinner R Ashwin.

Earlier, South Zone were wrapped up for 329 runs in 73.5 overs at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Thursday. More than half of South Zone’s runs were scored by wicketkeeper batsman Dinesh Karthik who played a swashbuckling knock of 153 runs to rescue the team from 86-6.

Medium Pacer Umesh Yadav (5-76) claimed a memorable five-wicket haul for Central Zone in conditions that favoured seam and swing bowling all through the day. Pankaj Singh (2-77), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2-68) and Murali Kartik (1-42) were the others who chipped in with wickets.

Karthik smashed 153 runs off just 113 balls – a knock that included 24 boundaries and 4 sixes. It was UP all-rounder Bhuvaneshwar Kumar who dismissed Karthik as SZ lost its 8th first innings wicket. Marpudi and Karthik added 146 runs for the eighth-wicket.

AFTERNOON SESSION

Dinesh Karthik rescued his team from 86-6, the courageous wicketkeeper batsman took the South Zone total past the 250-run mark and brought up a scintillating century in the process.

Tailenders R Ashwin (23) and S Marpudi kept Karthik in good company after Yadav ripped through the SZ batting line-up earlier on day one of the contest. 

Vying for a place in India’s squad for the Test tour of New Zealnad, Karthik played aggressive strokes after his team was left reeling at 86-6 at one stage with all top-order batsmen back in the hut.

Karthik and Ashwin added 58 runs for the seventh-wicket until Umesh Yadav struck, scalping his fourth wicket, that of Ashwin, to leave South Zone further in trouble.

MORNING SESSION

A star-studded South Zone batting line-up collapsed to 90-6 in 31 overs of play on day one of their Duleep Trophy tie against Central Zone at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Thursday. They went into lunch at 106-6 with Karthik and Aswin at the crease.

Rajasthan fast bowler Pankaj Singh was the chief tormentor for the Central Zone side, claiming SZ openers Uthappa (22) and Mukund (13) cheaply until Vidharbha bowler Umesh Yadav got into the thick of the action – dismissing former India captain Rahul Dravid (7), South Zone skipper VVS Laxman (13) and Kerala all-rounder Arjun Yadav (3).

Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, the all-rounder who impressed one and all during the Ranji Trophy final, claimed the prized wicket of Subramaniam Badrinath. 

South Zone
A Mukund, RV Uthappa, R Dravid, VVS Laxman (captain), S Badrinath, AS Yadav, KD Karthik (wicketkeeper), R Ashwin, S Sreesanth, M Suresh, L Balaji 

Central Zone
TM Srivastava, SS Shukla, M Kaif (captain), Parvinder Singh, B Kumar, YKT Goud, PP Chawla, M Kartik, NV Ojha (wicketkeeper), Pankaj Singh, U Yadav 

Toss: South Zone, who elected to bat

Umpires: Suresh Shastri and K Hariharan 

Third Umpire: Subrata Das

Match Referee: Sanjay Patil