Harsh Dubey, Upendra Yadav help Central Zone gain vital first innings lead over West Zone

Bengaluru, Sep 6 (PTI) Harsh Dubey and Upendra Yadav carved fifties of different hues to hand Central Zone the vital first innings lead against West Zone, placing their side on the doorstep of the Duleep Trophy final here on Saturday.

At stumps on Day 3 of the semifinal, Central were 556 for eight, leading by 118 runs. Saransh Jain (37) and Yash Thakur (4) were at the crease for them after Deepak Chahar (33) was dismissed in the penultimate over of the day. Yadav (87, 181 balls) and Dubey (75, 93 balls) were involved in a 134-run alliance for the sixth wicket that took the match away from West Zone.

But their approach on the day was different. While Yadav played with patience, Dubey displayed a lot of panache.

In fact, the Maharashtra all-rounder Dubey started off with a flurry of boundaries, five of them in his first 25 runs before settling into a more relaxed pace.

But still he fetched his fifty in 62 balls.

Yadav, who was given a life on 37 when he was dropped at gully by Aarya Desai off left-arm spinner Dharmendra Jadeja (4/101), brought up his fifty in 84 balls.

The partnership also helped Central inch past West’s first innings total of 438, when Dubey clattered pacer Arzan Nagwaswalla for a boundary, and the Central dressing room welcomed the moment with claps and cheers.

However, Dubey, who had also grabbed three wickets with his left-arm spin in West Zone's first innings, got out just before a brief rain interruption as the 23-year-old gave a simple catch to Shams Mulani at slips off Jadeja.

But it was a crucial partnership from the Central Zone perspective as they suffered a rather alarming slide in the first session of the day.

Starting from the overnight score of 229 for two, Central skipper Rajat Patidar (77) and Shubham Sharma (96) looked solid as their alliance soon swelled to 127.

But aggression eventually undid Patidar as he missed a sweep against Jadeja to get clean-bowled and his dismissal helped West grab two more quick wickets to come back into the match.

Yash Rathod (2) had to walk back after Ruturaj Gaikwad snaffled a sensational catch at slip off Jadeja and Shubham got run out while trying to squeeze in a tight single.

He was just four short of a richly-deserved hundred, but could not beat Tanush Kotian’s throw from mid-on.

It would have been vastly disappointing for the 31-year-old to get ousted in that manner after toiling for 241 balls.

Suddenly, the Central found themselves at 322 for five from the cosier 287 for two and they were a worried lot until Dubey and Yadav lent direction to their innings.

Despite losing three wickets in the space of 35 runs, Central managed to score 129 runs in the first session in 36 overs to close the gap with West.

They went to lunch at 358 for five and needed 81 runs to overhaul West’s total which they duly did in the second session without losing a wicket.

Chahar, who was pinged on his hand by Nagwaswalla, and Jain further extended West’s agony in the final session with a quick stand for the eighth wicket as Central pulled away decisively. PTI UNG PDS PDS