Bengaluru, Sept 06: Notching up his eighth first-class century to give the North Zone innings respectability after being at a precarious 38/2 against a disciplined bowling line-up, talented opening batter Shubham Khajuria kept the hopes of the North Zone team alive to seal a berth in the Duleep Trophy final as he, along with the brilliant Nishant Sindhu, guided their side to 278/5 at stumps on a rain-interrupted day three of the Duleep Trophy semi-final at BCCI COE Ground-1 Bengaluru, Saturday.
As per a statement issued here, in reply to South Zone’s mammoth first innings total of 536 runs, North lost two quick wickets early in the day in the form of in-form batsmen—skipper Ankit Kumar (06) and Yash Dhull (14). However, opener Shubham Khajuria and number four Ayush Badoni consolidated the innings and made a partnership of 63 runs to take the score to 101/3 in 26.3 overs before Badoni was dismissed on 40 runs off 57 balls with 5 boundaries. Shubham, while continuing his batting brilliance, was joined by Nishant Sindhu, who salvaged a sinking ship to take the score to 272 runs before his departure, thus making a big partnership of 171 runs along with Shubham. Shubham, in particular, won hearts with his masterclass and was in awe-inspiring touch, showing stellar grit, solidity, sublimity, elegance and brilliance to notch up a magnificent unbeaten century, scoring 128* runs off 245 balls, studded with 20 fours and one six, while Nishant scored 82 runs off 148 balls with 9 fours and one six. Kanhaiya was unlucky to be run out on nought. Shubham (128*) and Sahil Lotra (01*) were at the crease at the draw of stumps today. With the final day’s play left in the match, North Zone are still trailing by 258 runs with five wickets in hand. It remains anybody’s game, with a slight edge to South Zone.
Earlier, on the first two days, South Zone had scored a massive total of 536 runs. N. Jagadeesan top scored with 197 runs off 352 balls with 16 fours and 2 sixes, while Devdutt Padikkal, Tanay Thyagarajan and Ricky Bhui contributed 57, 58 and 54 runs to the total respectively. For North Zone, Nishant Sindhu was the pick of the bowlers, taking 5 wickets for 125 runs in 47.2 overs, while Anshul Kambhoj bagged 2 wickets. Mayank Dagar and Sahil Lotra claimed one wicket each.
