Baba Indrajith scored a vital century for South Zone to take them to 306/8 after R Sai Kishore’s five-fer bundled out West Zone at 270 in the Duleep Trophy final Day 2.
Baba Indrajith (right) shares a fist bump with West Zone teammate after scoring a century during Duleep Trophy final 2022 on Thursday. Screenshot/BCCI domestic
A fast-paced 125-ball 118 knock by Baba Indrajith gave South Zone a 48-run lead against West Zone as the southern side ended Day 2 of the Duleep Trophy final at 318/7.
The 28-year-old right-hander shot 14 boundaries during the course of his innings while getting helping hands from the likes of Manish Pandey (48) and Krishnappa Gowtham (43) down the order to take the score past West Zone’s first innings total of 270.
Pandey’s stand with Indrajith, in particular, came handy as the duo added 105 runs for the fourth wicket after the side was stuttering at 101/3 by the 27th over of their innings. Mayank Agarwal disappointed with a nine-run knock up the order while skipper Hanuma Vihari scored just 25 at No. 3. The other opener, Rohan Kunnummal, contributed 31.
Indrajith and Pandey steered innings from thereon as the duo added 100 runs in just 20 overs with conditions turning more conducive for the batters. However, Pandey’s departure in the 48th over, by Tanush Kotian, triggered a mini-collapse down the order as South Zone lost three wickets in space of 36 runs. In that period, Indrajith and Ricky Bhui (4) were sent packing by senior pacer Jaydev Unadkat, who was also the pick among the bowlers with a spell of 3/52.
At 243/6, Gowtham’s 55-ball 43 revived them as the left-handed all-rounder added 62 runs for the seventh wicket with Ravi Teja. Teja remained not out on 26 while tailender R Sai Kishore (6*) was at the other end.
Another West Zone bowler to make an impact on the day was Atit Sethi, who finished with a spell of 3/51.
Earlier in the day, Ajinkya Rahane and side were bundled out for 270 after resuming their day at 250/8. Unadkat, resuming at 39, couldn’t reach his half-century as he was stranded at 47 with Kotian (2) and Chintan Gaja (10) dismissed quickly.
Gaja was also the last wicket to fall while becoming Sai Kishore’s fifth victim as the experienced spinner finished with figures of 5/86.
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