The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : S.S. Das props up East Zone innings

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S.S. Das props up East Zone innings

Special Correspondent

MUMBAI: East Zone skipper Shib Sunder Das chose to bat after winning the toss at the Wankhede stadium and then tackled the South Zone bowling on his own terms, even as Karnataka pacemen Vinay Kumar and N.C. Aiyappa made excellent use of windy conditions and threatened to run through the batting.

East Zone, 102 for four in 21 overs on day one of the Duleep Trophy tie, had the right man in the right place in Das (82, 160 balls, 12x4), guiding his side to a fighting 265 for seven at close. A morning shower had forced a delayed start and only 79 overs were bowled.

South managed the early breakthroughs but could not apply the stranglehold.

The East Zone captain made batting look easy, especially off the front foot, nine fours bringing up his half-century in 107 balls. He struck three fours in one Vinay Kumar over — a late cut, a cover drive and an edge through the slips.

Off-spinner R. Ashwin send back the ex-India opener, gaining an edge off a defensive shot with a ball turning sharply. M. Vijay, supporting the bowling with three excellent catches close to the bat, completed a regulation catch at slip.

Das had last opened in a Test for India at Kingston, Jamaica, with Wasim Jaffer on the 2002 tour to West Indies.

Superb catch

Swapnil Asnodkar at forward short leg came up with the day’s best catch, a reflex grab after seeing P.J. Das attempt a pull against Ashwin. Aiyappa got the ball to move in the corridor outside the off stump and Niranjan Behera fell for the bait edging one to Prasad Reddy, standing in the place of the injured Thilak Naidu.

East wicketkeeper Halhadar Das proved a hard nut to crack, slashing against the pace bowlers and making room for forceful shots against the spinners, hitting 10 fours in his 82-ball 50. He walked back with head high, unbeaten on 78 at stumps.

South Zone’s problems in containing the East batsmen may not be over yet, the way number eight Tushar Saha (29 off 39) faced the bowling amidst lengthening shadows. Debasish Mohanty (six not out) is a capable low-order bat, so the gamble by captain Das in taking first strike may pay off if wicketkeeper Das can guide tailenders S.S. Paul and Ranadeb Bose.

The scores: East Zone — 1st innings: Shib Sunder Das c M. Vijay b Ashwin 82, Arindam Das lbw b Vinay Kumar 0, Anustup Majumdar c M. Vijay b Aiyappa 19, Niranjan Behera c Prasad b Aiyappa 8, Manoj Vardan c M. Vijay b Vinay Kumar 20, P.J. Das c Asnodkar b Ashwin 14, Halhadar Das (batting) 78, Tushar Saha c Ojha b Vijay Kumar 29, Debasis Mohanty (batting) 6, Extras (lb-4, nb-5) 9; Total (for seven in 79 overs) 265.

Fall of wkts: 1-6, 2-46, 3-54, 4-102, 5-134, 6-170, 7-241.

South Zone bowling: Vinay Kumar 15-4-64-2, N.C. Aiyappa 15-1-60-2, P. Vijay Kumar 16-5-38-1, Pragyan Ojha 18-3-48-0, R. Ashwin 13-1-48-2, S. Badrinath 2-1-3-0.

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