Skipper Panchal fights from front for West Zone

BENGALURU: Shepherded by skipper Priyank Panchal’s (92 batting off 205 balls, 11 fours) spunky innings, West Zone defied the South Zone bowlers while chasing 298 and finished day four of the Duleep Trophy final at 182 for five here on Saturday.

West still needs 116 more runs to retain the title, setting the stage for an exciting concluding day. In the first session, South, which was 181 for seven overnight, was bowled out for 230 as left-arm spinner Dharmendrasinh Jadeja (5/40) scalped five.

The day’s protagonist was the West captain as Panchal, who completed 8,000 runs in first-class cricket on the day, kept his team’s hopes alive with a fighting knock. Panchal and Sarfaraz Khan (48 off 76 balls, 5 fours, 1 six) amassed 98 runs for the fifth-wicket alliance, in which the former was the steering force.

Panchal has been one of the prominent domestic batters over the last few seasons, and it was not difficult to see why. He brought forward his years of experience to thwart the South bowlers for 315 minutes. The Gujarat batter showed unflappable temperament despite wickets falling at the other end regularly.

Panchal and Cheteshwar Pujara (15) showed the first glimpse of West’s fight through a 57-run stand for the third wicket.

They seemed unruffled for most part but pacer Vasuki Koushik (3/28) ended the burgeoning stand dismissing Pujara. The veteran batter’s thick outside edge went to Tilak Varma at forward short-leg.