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Live Cricket Score Duleep Trophy Central Zone vs South Zone, final at Delhi Day 3: Central Zone lead by 111 runs at the end of Day 3

Follow live updates of the Duleep Trophy 2014-15 final between Central Zone and South Zone.

South Zone opener Robin Uthappa scored 80 from 97 balls on the second day of the final © Getty Images (File Photo)
South Zone opener Robin Uthappa scored 80 from 97 balls on the second day of the final © Getty Images (File Photo)

Oct 31, 2014

(Follow live cricket score and live updates of the Duleep Trophy 2014-15 final between Central Zone and South Zone)

Third time in a row bad light bad light has called the play early. Central Zone lead by 111 runs. Tomorrow will be an interesting. We will have to wait and see if Central Zone can come come out and gather quick runs and then put some pressure on the South boys. Goodbye !
Gopal picks up another wicket. Menaria goes without scoring. It was low and probably going down the leg side. Mahesh Rawat is the new batsman. He comes in and guides a poor delivery on the leg stump for a boundary.
OUT!Menaria lbw b Gopal 0
Namaj Ojha is dismissed by Shreyas Gopal. Gopal bowls a half-tracker on the middle stump and Ojha tries to churn it away past the first slip but instead hands a easy catch to Robin Uthappa. Menaria comes to to bat now.
OUT!Ojha c Uthappa b Gopal 27
Naman Ojha is adding few quick runs here. He comes out to loopy delivery from Pragyan Ojha and swipes it away for a boundary. He scores another boundary in the same over , again through the off-side region. Two runs from the next Sharath over. Its time for drinks now. The light is fading, a couple of overs still left to be bowled.
South skipper Vinay Kumar manages to remove the remaining opening batsman, as Fazal departed on a score of 72, 28 runs short of a century. In comes the in-form batsman Naman Ojha, who smashed an impeccable 217 against North Zone in the semi final at Mohali. While the 47th over bowled by Pragyan Ojha fetched only a run, Naman somewhat avenged Fazal’s dismissal by smashing Vinay for three boundaries in the 48th over. Both Bist and Naman have had good scores in the last couple of innings, and will look to preserve their wickets till the end of the day.
Robin Bist gets off the mark in style as he smashes Pragyan Ojha for a huge, straight six at the end of the 44th over. Bist continues the onslaught in the very next over bowled by Vinay Kumar, where he hoicks him for a boundary through the cover region. Bist’s six also brings up the 150-run mark for Central Zone, who are cruising at the moment. But the blow comes at the end of the over, when Fazal goes for an ambitious shot off the bowling of Vinay Kumar, whom he had smashed for a four at the square leg region a delivery ago. Tries to pull a good-length delivery towards deep square leg, only to get a top edge and get caught by Baba Aparatjith. Fazal is furious with himself as he misses out on a much-awaited century.
OUT! Faiz Fazal c Aparijith b Vinay Kumar 72 (139)

 

And its Tea on Day three. A rather slow session for Central Zone, who scored 70 runs from 28 overs, losing the important wicket of Jalaj Saxena. They are however, far from danger at this moment, with nine wickets in hand and Fazal at the crease.

 

Ojha finally manages to get the big breakthrough by trapping Jalaj Saxena leg before, who departs for a fine knock of 71 from 119 deliveries. End of the 128-run partnership as well.
OUT! Jalaj Saxena lbw Ojha 71 (119)

 

 

Faiz Fazal is inching closer to his second fifty of this match. Has impressed with his technique. Central continue to add runs and now lead by 17. Shreyas Gopal and Abhimanyu Mithun are bowling in tandem.

 

 

The umpires have called for a drinks break at the end of 28 overs of play of Central Zone’s second innings. The run-flow slowed down before the break, with back-to-back maidens being bowled by Aparajith and Ojha. There were several close enocunters, especially during the overs bowled by Ojha, where the batsmen got away very narrowly. Central, in the meantime, have overcome the deficit. With all their wickets and a flourishing partnership at hand, Central look good to get a decent lead by the end of the day.
Central Zone have nearly brought up the 100-run opening stand, with Jalaj Saxena bringing up his 17th First Class off 65 balls. With a handful of runs needed at this point to close the gap with South Zone’s lead, things are going pretty comfortably for Central at the moment. Fazal entering his 40s, and has been a great support for Saxena in the formidable opening partnership so far.
Central Zone have slowed down post lunch, scoring a mere 12 runs from the six overs that have been bowled since the start of the new session. While Saxena is on the verge of a half-century, he is well-supported by Fazal, who has moved into the 30s by now.
And its Lunch on Day three. A good day for Central Zone so far as they have managed to turn things around by dismissing South Zone for 371, when the latter were expected to score many more runs. Then the duo of Fazal and Saxena added 68 runs effortlessly from 12 overs to get their side off to a smooth start.
Things are going smoothly for Central Zone at the moment as they have reached 51 runs for no loss at the end of 10 overs. The flow of boundaries has been maintained in the game so far, nine of them coming so far in the first ten overs of the match. None of the bowlers have had much success so far, with skipper Vinay conceding 24 runs from 4 overs.
Central Zone are off to a decent start as they manage to put up 25 runs on the board in a span of five overs. Jalaj Saxena, who was dismissed in the previous innings for two after facing 43 deliveries, has decided to go after the attack from the third over itself, which was bowled by skipper Vinay Kumar. The fourth over bowled by Abhimanyu Mithun is another expensive affair for South Zone, as Fazal joins the run-fest with two consecutive fours. Central Zone need another 79 runs to overcome the deficit.
End of a mixed session and South Zone’s innings. Central Zone will walk out to bat shortly. A 103-run lead is not an intimidating one, especially for a final, and with two-and-a-half days left for the course of the match, one can expect the game to swing in either direction.
End of the innings for South Zone, as they have been dismissed for 379, thanks to the spinner-duo of Murtaza and Chawla. Chawla takes his second wicket of the session and the innings, pitching the delivery outside off-stump, which prompts Sharath to push the ball forward and give Chawla and simple catch. South Zone have undergone a spectacular collapse in the morning session, losing six wickets for 71 runs.
OUT! H S Sharath c & b Piyush 0 (3)
Ali Murtaza takes his fourth wicket of the session and the innings, this time enticing Pragyan Ojha to go for a slog. Ojha obliges and sends the ball towards long-off, where Jalaj Saxena takes an easy catch. Badly timed shot by Ojha.
OUT! Pragyan Ojha c Jalaj b Murtaza 1 (14)
South Zone are headed for a major collapse and can possible take the field in a bit, as they have lost their eighth wicket. Murtaza manages to take his third wicket of the day as he traps Mithun plumb. South Zone will still hope to cross the 400-run mark, despite the fact that it depends on the tailenders right now.
OUT! Abhimanyu Mithun lbw Murtaza 0 (4)
Central Zone have managed to stage a dramatic comeback into this game as they have taken their third wicket for less than seven runs. Murtaza takes his second wicket of the day as he traps skipper Vinay Kumar, with the umpire raising his finger slowly.
OUT! Vinay Kumar lbw Murtaza 2 (6)
And another wicket for Central Zone! This time its Vihari who ends up on the unlucky side. Vihari charges down the pitch with the intention of smashing the fifth ball of the Murtaza delivery, only to completely miss the line of the ball and get his leg stump rattled. Misses out on a well-deserved century in the process.
OUT! Hanuman Vihari b Murtaza 75 (97)
Piyush Chawla manages to get the first wicket of the day by dismissing Lokesh Rahul, denying him a double-century in the process. Chawla entices him to come forward to play a wicket that is in line with the middle stump. Rahul misses the line of the ball completely. Rahul walks back in utter disappointment as the dressing room joins in applauding him. The main reason for South Zone crossing the 300-run mark so comfortably.
OUT! Lokesh Rahul b Chawla 185 (233)
Vihari also smashes the first six of the innings off the first ball of Piyush Chawla’s over as he uses his feet beautifully and sends the ball high over long-on for a six. Jalaj Saxena is not spared either in the next over, as he is smashed for a four and a six, the latter being smashed over mid-wicket as Vihari charged down the pitch.
Hanuman Vihari scores the first boundary of the day when he pulls a short-pitched delivery through the mid-wicket region. The next three overs are tight. Vihari reaches his half-century at the end of the 76th over. Lokesh Sharma in the meantime looks good to complete a well-deserved and gritty double-ton. Meanwhile, the new ball is awaited as it is expected to be brought in in the 80th over.
And so the third day of the big final kicks off, with Lokesh Rahul and Hanuman Vihari walk to the centre and resume South Zone’s innings. Pankaj Singh, the most successful bowler for Central Zone so far, bowls the first over of the day, and concedes three runs from it.

Teams:
Central Zone: Jalaj Saxena, Faiz Fazal, Robin Bist, Naman Ojha (wk), Ashok Menaria, Mahesh Rawat, Arindam Ghosh, Piyush Chawla(C), Ali Murtaza, Ishwar Pandey, Pankaj Singh

South Zone: Robin Uthappa, Lokesh Rahul, Hanuma Vihari, Baba Aparajith, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Prasanna, Shreyas Gopal, Vinay Kumar (c), Abhimanyu Mithun, Pragyan Ojha, HS Sharath

 


 

Hello and welcome to CricketCountry’s coverage of the final of the Duleep Trophy 2014-15 between Central Zone and South Zone, currently being played at the Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi. South Zone were 308 for the loss of four wickets at the end of second day, after having dismissed Central Zone for a score of 276, gaining a lead of 32 runs. Lokesh Rahul was unbeaten on a monumental score of 168 at the end of play on Day Two. Pankaj Singh was the pick among the bowlers for Central Zone, with figures of three for 55.

South Zone reached the 100 in the 24th over of the match. Jalaj Saxena got the first wicket for the Central Zone as Robin Uthappa was dismissed LBW. The first wicket partnership which was worth 168 runs had already laid a strong foundation for the middle-order.  Baba Aparjith and Rahul carried the innings together before Pankaj Singh came back for a final spell with the old ball and picked three quick wickets.

Time: 09:30 IST

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