CUTTACK: Unbeaten half-centuries by Mohammad Kaif and Naman Ojha and the duo’s 114-run unfinished partnership for the fourth-wicket helped Central Zone overcome a disastrous start in their Duleep Trophy quarterfinal match against East Zone at Barabati Stadium here on Thursday. In reply to East Zone’s first innings total of 427, Central Zone were in dire straits, losing openers Mohnish Mishra and Akash Chopra with only four runs on the board. They suffered another setback when skipper Hrishikesh Kanitkar was caught by Natraj Behera off Iresh Saxena for 29.
Belligerent batting by a plucky Kaif and a lucky Ojha enabled Central Zone recover to 169 for three at close of second day of the four-day match. When stumps were drawn for the day, Kaif was going strong on 78 (186b, 12x4) and stumper Ojha was giving him company on 50 (92b 2x4, 2x6). Ojha, however, was let off the hook when Ashok Dinda dropped a catch at long-on with the batsman on 27. The bowler to suffer on the occasion was spinner Iresh Saxena.
Earlier, resuming their first innings at overnight 328 for five, East Zone lost the remaining five wickets, adding 99 in the process.
SCOREBOARD
EAST ZONE: Natraj Behera c Chopra b Pankaj Singh 12, S Goswami c Yadav b Kartik 37, I Jaggi c Kaif b P Singh 118, M Tiwary lbw Pankaj Singh 109, S Tiwary (run out) 19, W Saha (run out) 69, Alok Sahoo c Bundela b Yadav 18, Niranjan Behera c Ojha b P Singh 1, A Dinda c Kanitkar b RP Singh 14, I Saxena b Kartik 17, Basant Mohanty (not out) 1. Extras (b-2, lb-3, nb-5, w-2) 12. Total (all out, 114.3 overs) 427. Fall of wickets: 1-29, 2-78, 3-286, 4-291, 5-320, 6-351, 7-354, 8-382, 9-417. Bowling: R P Singh 26-5-93-1, Pankaj Singh 34-5-126-4, Umesh Yadav 23-6-72-1, Murali Kartik 20.3-3-92-2, Devendra Bundela 9-3-18-0, Ashok Menaria 1-0-16-0, Hrishikesh Kanitkar 1-0-5-0.
CENTRAL ZONE: A Chopra c Saha b Dinda 3, M Mishra c Saha b Mohanty 0, H Kanitkar c Natraj b Saxena 29, M Kaif (batting) 78, N Ojha (batting) 50. Extras (lb-7, nb-2) 9. Total (3 wkts, 63 overs) 169. Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-4, 3-55. Bowling: Ashok Dinda 17-5-49-1, Basant Mohanty 17-5-33-1, Alok Sahoo 13-2-23-0, Iresh Saxena 14-1-48-1, Manoj Tiwary 2-0-9-0.