Central complete a hat-trick

AURANGABAD, DEC 21: The 38th edition of the Duleep Trophy will be best remembered for the resolute approach exhibited by a bunch of hopef...

AURANGABAD, DEC 21: The 38th edition of the Duleep Trophy will be best remembered for the resolute approach exhibited by a bunch of hopefuls from Central Zone. Pitted against the might of West Zone, comprising six players who had donned the National colours, they came out with all guns blazing to record an emphatic 122-run victory this afternoon.

The Aurangabad District Cricket Association Stadium track may invite derision for its spiteful nature. But it was the Central lads who cocked a snook at their famed rivals with their tenacity under the astute leadership of Gyanendra Pandey.

West were already looking down the barrel when they resumed at 45-4 this morning. Abhijit Kale 20 and Sitanshu Kotak 26 provided momentary resistance while posting the innings best association of 48 runs.

Off-spinner Kulamani Parida provided the breakthrough by claiming the duo. Iqbal Siddiqui 21 not out, who gave something to cheer for his home fans striking two successive sixes of Parida, Abey Kuruvilla 10 andNilesh Kulkarni 4 extended the inevitable till the lunch interval. Ashish Winston Zaidi was in no mood to endure it any longer as he trapped Kulkarni leg before with his second delivery after resumption, to stamp Central8217;s seal of success.

Interestingly, both Central and West were joint winners in the last edition of the tournament. With today8217;s triumph, Central have made it three in a row. They have so far featured in eleven summit clashes and tasted their first success in 1971-72 against West.

There were five principal characters who charted Central8217;s success route. While 19-year-old Mohammad Kaif and wicket-keeper Manoj Mudgal shared the batting honours in the first innings, Gagan Khoda lorded over them with a fine hundred in the second essay. Left-arm spinner Murali Karthik emerged the best in his department with a match haul of 8-95. Pandey provided the icing on the cake with his superb supervision, supplemented by his own contributions.

West coach Ashok Mankad, who was candid in his admission ofthe rivals8217; dominance, lauded their success. 8220;They outplayed us in all departments. Under the given conditions, application was the winner which they showed in abundance. Full credit to Gyani Gyanendra Pandey for his handling of the bowlers.8221;

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The former Test opener, while assessing his team8217;s display, said: 8220;We could have put a better fight.8221; Commenting on the pitch, Mankad felt it wasn8217;t an ideal track for the magnitude of a Duleep Trophy final. 8220;But it was a real test for the aspirants,8221; he added.

The 26-year-old Pandey praised his bowlers and felt the spin of the coin in his favour was one of the vital aspects of the encounter. 8220;We had never thought it would be an easy win. But winning the toss and our first innings score gave us the confidence.8221;

SCOREBOARD

West Zone 2nd innings; overnight 45-4: Wasim Jaffer c Mudgal b Pandey 8 30b, 29m, 1215;4, Sameer Dighe b Zaidi 14 92b, 118m, 2215;4, Jatin Paranjpe b Zaidi 18 60b, 58m, 2215;4, Hrishikesh Kanitkar b Zaidi 0 3b, 2m, Abhijit Kalec Jyoti Yadav b Parida 20 55b, 99m, 3215;4, Sitanshu Kotak c Khoda b Parida 26 106b, 105m, 2215;4, Sairaj Bahutule lbw b Karthik 9, Paras Mhambrey c Khurasia b Parida 0 3b, 8m, Iqbal Siddiqui not out 21 43b, 42m, 2215;6, Abey Kuruvilla lbw Karthik 10 19b, 24m, 1215;4, Nilesh Kulkarni lbw Zaidi 4 9b, 12m, 1215;4. Extras: 3b, 6lb, 5nb 1. Total: all out in 72.2 overs, 270 mins: 144

Fall Of Wickets: 1-10, 2-38, 3-38, 4-45, 5-93, 6-109, 7-109, 8-109, 9-124.

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Bowling: Zaidi 14.2-2-44-4 4nb, Karthik 31-18-22-2, Pandey 12-2-26-1, Parida 15-5-43-3 1nb.

Result: Central Zone won by 122 runs.