Yuvraj Singh puts North Zone in command against Central in Duleep Trophy semi-final
Hyderabad: Oct 15, 2012
Yuvraj Singh carried on from where he left yesterday as heto put North in comfortable position at stumps on the second day of their Duleep Trophy semi-final against Central Zone.
Undefeated on 133 overnight, Yuvraj scored a magnificent 208 off only 243 balls with the help of 33 boundaries and three huge sixes as North managed a commendable 451 in 119.2 overs.
Central then crawled to 146 for five in 58 overs when stumps were drawn. They still need 306 runs to get an all-important first innings lead which now looks highly unlikely.
It was another day which was dominated by Yuvraj’s blade as he added 75 runs to his overnight score and in the process scored 58 of those runs in boundaries. He added 13 more fours to his 20 hits and another big six to the couple he hit off Murali Kartik yesterday.
However, the lower middle-order of the North Zone couldn’t provide him a lot of support as he was the only player who attacked the Central bowling. Yuvraj was finally removed by India discard Murali Kartik who caught the batsman off his own bowling.
The Central openers Tanmay Srivastava and Vineet Saxena sedately added 64 runs in 30-odd overs but their defensive approach only increased the pressure on the team.
While Srivastava was run-out after making 23 off 89 balls, Saxena’s painstaking innings of 33 made off 115 balls ended when Amit Mishra got him caught by Yuvraj.
However it was Delhi speedster Parvinder Awana who did the crucial job of removing the in-form Rajasthan duo of Ashok Menaria and Robin Bist.
Brief Scores: North Zone 451 119.2 overs (Yuvraj Singh 208, Shikhar Dhawan 121; Murali Kartik 4 for 120, Praveen Kumar 4 for 92) lead Central Zone 146 for 5 (Mohammad Kaif 34*, Vineet Saxena 33; Parvinder Awana 2 for 29) by 305 runs (PTI)