Coimbatore: Baba Indrajith’s fine hundred took South Zone to 318/7 at stumps, leading by 48 runs against West Zone on the second day of the Duleep Trophy 2022 final at the SNR College Cricket Ground, here on Thursday.
Batting at No 4, Indrajith scored 118 off 125 balls, hitting 14 fours to complete his 13th first-class hundred. Having come in to bat at 40/2, the right hander added 61 runs for the third wicket with captain Hanuma Vihari (25) before having a quickfire 105-run stand with Manish Pandey (48 off 69).
The partnership between Indrajith and Pandey didn’t allow the likes of Shams Mulani and Tanush Kotian to contain runs. The two spinners finished the day with combined figures of 41-2-183-1. Apart from them, pacers Jaydev Unadkat and Atit Sheth picked three wickets apiece and kept striking with the old ball too.
Sheth picked the crucial wicket of Vihari and came back later in the day to send back Krishnappa Gowtham, who hit 3 fours and 3 sixes in his 55-ball 43 and really drove home the advantage for South Zone.
Earlier in the day, West Zone were bowled out 270 inside the first 30 minutes and were able to add only 20 runs to their overnight total.
Het Patel, who saved the day for his side on Day 1, fell two short of his hundred on the second morning, getting out to R Sai Kishore. The left-arm spinner finished with 5 for 86.
Brief Scores: South Zone 318/7 (Indrajith 118, Gowtham 43; Sheth 3-51, Unadkat 3-52) lead West Zone 270 all out (Patel 98; Kishore 5-86) by 48 runs
(IANS)
