Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], September 7 : Central Zone made it to the finals of the ongoing Duleep Trophy, securing the fifth-highest score by a side in first-class cricket without a century, during their semifinal match against West Zone at Bengaluru on Sunday.
The final will be between the Central Zone and the South Zone. Central Zone secured a place in the finals on the basis of a massive first innings lead.
West Zone elected to bat first after winning the toss. While the top Indian talent Yashasvi Jaiswal (4) and Shreyas Iyer (25) failed, Ruturaj Gaikwad, playing his first competitive game ever since an injury cut short his Indian Premier League (IPL) for Chennai Super Kings (CSK), made his eighth first-class ton, scoring 184 in 206 balls, with 25 fours and a six. In the lower-middle-order, half-centuries came from Tanush Kotian (76 in 166 balls, with six fours) and Shardul Thakur (64 in 98 balls, with seven fours) as West pushed to 438 in 108 overs.
Harsh Dubey (3/118) and Saransh Jain (3/121) were the top bowlers for Central Zone.
Central Zone delivered a strong reply with Danish Malewar (76 in 136 balls, with 12 fours and a six), Shubham Sharma (96 in 241 balls, with 11 fours) and skipper Rajat Patidar (77 in 84 balls, with 12 fours) impressing with fifties contrasting in styles and tempos at the top of the order.
Later in the middle and lower-middle-order, wicketkeeper-batter Upendra Yadav (87 in 181 balls, with eight fours and two sixes), Harsh Dubey (75 in 93 balls, with 13 fours) and Saransh Jain (63* in 108 balls, with four boundaries and three sixes) scored fifties in tandem, the result was CZ scoring 600 in 164.3 overs, without a century.
The highest score by a first-class side without a century is by Surrey during the 2022 County Championship, scoring 671/9 declared against Kent, with Ollie Pope (96) being the top-scorer.
Central Zone had claimed a gigantic 162-run lead and had to bowl out West quickly, but solid contributions from Jaiswal (64 in 70 balls, with three fours and three sixes) and Tanush Kotian (40* in 72 balls, with seven fours) meant that the hands were shaken for a draw at 216/8. Iyer (12) and Gaikwad (16) flopped in this innings.
Saransh Jain, who took 5/84 in this innings, got the 'Player of the Match' award for his half-century and eight wickets in the match for CZ.
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