Central all but through to semis, close in on NE demolition

Bengaluru, Aug 30 (PTI) Central Zone had put one foot in the Duleep Trophy semi-final with a decisive first innings lead of 347 early during the day but by the end of it, the lead swelled to an unimaginable 678 runs, courtesy Shubham Sharma's hundred, here Saturday.

Central Zone ended the third day at 331 for 7 in their second innings. A patient batting effort from from MP Skipper Shubham's (122, 215 balls) and quick half-centuries by skipper Rajat Patidar (66 off 72 balls) and Yash Rathod (78 off 83 balls) killed the contest as they rendered the final day to a mere formality.

In the morning session, North East started at 168 for 7 while replying to Central Zone's massive 532/4 and folded for 185 as Deepak Chahar and Khaleel Ahmed polished off the tail in a jiffy. The two India bowlers made up for an ordinary show on the second day.

The Central second innings was about the patience shown by domestic bulwark Shubham, who grounded the North East bowlers with lot of patience allowing a more flamboyant Patidar to be the aggressor.

Patidar looked good for a second hundred as he hit pacer Bishworjit Konthoujam for two sixes and also hammered leg-spinner Ankur Malik for a maximum but was out trying to force the pace.

He and Shubham added 122 for the fourth wicket. The centurion then joined left-handed Rathod to add another 131 runs.

The lead swelled over 550 runs, and the North East bowlers had already given up hopes of a fightback.

On the final day, Central zone would obviously push for a win and all eyes would be on Kuldeep Yadav, who went wicketless in his 20 overs in the first innings.

After being benched for the entire duration of England tour, Kuldeep would like to not only get some match time albeit in red ball format but also a few wickets under his belt before the Asia Cup.

Brief Scores: Central Zone 532/4 decl and 331/7 in 80.3 overs (Shubham Sharma 122, Yash Rathod 78, Rajat Patidar 66, Akash Choudhary 2/44).

North East Zone 1st Innings: 185 all out in 69.3 overs (Karnajit Yumnam 48, Ankur Malik 42, Aditya Thakare 3/23). PTI KHS KHS AT AT