Ricky Bhui, Prithvi Shaw shine with unbeaten tons

SALEM: No.6 batter Ricky Bhui struck an unbeaten 103 (170 balls, 10 fours, 2 sixes) while Baba Indrajith hit a half-century as South Zone posted a massive first innings total of 630 for eight before declaring on the second day of the Duleep Trophy semi-final against North Zone here on Friday.

In reply, North Zone reached 24 without loss at stumps with Yash Dhull unbeaten on eight and Manan Vohra batting on 11. In Coimbatore, opener Prithvi Shaw hammered an unbeaten 104 (96 balls, 11 fours, 3 sixes) as West Zone ended the day at 130 for three in the second innings to extend the overall lead against Central Zone to 259 runs.

Resuming on the overnight score of 324 for two here, the South Zone batters continued to pile on the runs. Captain Hanuma Vihari, who began the day on 107, extended his partnership with Indrajith (65 off 104 balls, 4 fours) to 105 runs, before being trapped LBW for 134 (255 balls, 10 fours, 2 sixes) by left-arm spinner Mayank Dagar (3/184).

Indrajith and Manish Pandey (35) added 57 runs for the fourth wicket, but the former became Dagar’s second scalp. Pandey fell to Dagar at 440, but North Zone’s ordeal was not over as Bhui went after the attack, and with support from No.7 K Gowtham (48 off 72 balls, 4 fours, 2 sixes) and No.8 T Ravi Teja (42 off 66 balls, 4 fours, 1 six), piled more misery.

In the other semi-final, the West Zone bowlers came to the fore and bundled Central Zone out for 128 in the first innings, giving their team a lead of 129 runs. The experienced Jaydev Unadkat (3/24) did the early damage while spinner Tanush Kotian (3/17) also picked up three wickets, including that of opposition captain Karan Sharma (34). Shaw then made sure that West Zone took control of the proceedings by coming up with a blistering knock.

BRIEF SCORES: In Salem: South Zone 630/8 decl. in 172.5 overs (R Kunnummal 143, H Vihari 134, R Bhui 103*, B Indrajith 65, M Agarwal 49, K Gowtham 48, Ravi Teja 42, M Dagar 3/184) vs North Zone 24/0 in 5 overs. In Coimbatore: West Zone 257 in 85.4 overs (R Tripathi 67, P Shaw 60, S Mulani 41, Kumar Kartikeya 5/66) and 130/3 in 29 overs (P Shaw 104*) vs Central Zone 128 in 40.1 overs (T Kotian 3/17, J Unadkat 3/24)

Gaja’s wild throw injures Venkatesh

An ambulance made its way into the ground after a wild throw from West Zone medium pacer Chintan Gaja injured Central Zone’s Venkatesh Iyer during the Duleep Trophy match second day here on Friday. The all-rounder was forced to walk back after he was hit on the shoulder by the West Zone bowler. Venkatesh, who was part of India’s T20I squad for a brief period, opened his account with a six off Gaja. Next ball, he hit it back to Gaja, who threw the red cherry at Venkatesh, and the batter was down on the ground in pain. The ambulance arrived in the middle of the ground and the stretcher was out too, but the 27-year-old decided to walk off the field. With no serious damage, Venkatesh came back to bat, but was dismissed after reaching 14. Ashok Menaria was fielding in Venkatesh’s place in the second innings.