Yuvraj comeback worth wait in ton News Archive News

Yuvraj Singh made a brilliant comeback into first-class arena as he smashed an unbeaten century for North Zone against Central on the first day of their Duleep Trophy semi-final

Written by Press Trust Of India

Hyderabad | October 15, 2012 01:23 AM IST

3 min read

Yuvraj Singh made a brilliant comeback into first-class arena as he smashed an unbeaten century for North Zone against Central on the first day of their Duleep Trophy semi-final. At stumps,North were in commanding position having scored 346 for 4,riding on Yuvrajs superb unbeaten 133 while skipper Shikhar Dhawan also made his presence felt with an innings of 121.

The innings will certainly end any doubts whatsoever about Yuvrajs fitness and his ability to withstand the rigours of longer version of the game after recovering from rare germ cell cancer. He played only 152 deliveries during his knock and hit 20 boundaries and two huge sixes off Murali Kartik. Both sixes were sent soaring over deep mid-wicket and the second one saw the talented left-hander reach three-figure mark. This is Yuvrajs 19th first-class century but certainly one he would remember for a long time to come.

There were no demons in the 22-yard strip at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Uppal and Yuvraj didnt for once looked like in any sort of trouble as he kept on punishing the Central bowlers. Credit should also be given to Dhawan who scored his second Duleep century on the trot. His 200-ball innings contained 14 hits to the fence and,more importantly,added 160 runs with his senior partner for the third wicket in just over 20 overs.

Such was Yuvrajs dominance that he came to bat only in the 53rd over of the innings which was well after lunch but took on the bowlers from the very beginning. The trio of Praveen Kumar (2/72),Bhuvenshwar Kumar (0/63) and Rituraj Singh (0/67) were treated with equal disdain while Kartik was singled out for special treatment. The 36 year-old Railways left-arm spinner was hammered for 92 runs in 19 overs. Yuvrajs innings can give Sandeep Patil and Co another option in the Indian Test teams middle-order ahead of the England Test series.

Brief scores: North Zone 346/4 (Yuvraj Singh batting 133,Shikhar Dhawan 121,Praveen Kumar 2/72) vs Central Zone on Day One.

Tiwary revives East

Visakhapatnam: Jharkhand batsman Saurabh Tiwary and Orissa all-rounder Basant Mohanty scripted an impressive recovery with an undefeated century-plus stand as East Zone reached 187 for six at stumps on Day I in the semi-final against South Zone.

While Tiwary remained undefeated on 84,Mohanty did well on his part to remain unbeaten on 51 as they put 121 runs in 32.2 overs for the seventh wicket after East were tottering at 66 for six by the 38th over. Due to overnight rain and wet outfield conditions,only 70 overs of play was possible.

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South skipper Vinay Kumar opted to field first dismissed left-handed opener Dheeraj Jadhav for 1 while his new-ball partner Abhimanyu Mithun removed Manish Vardhan caught by Manish Pandey in the slip cordon.

Stuart Binny who came in as first change also got into the act removing skipper Nataraj Behera (11) and his deputy Anustup Majumdar (4) in quick succession as East were reduced to 21 for four within first 13 overs.

Brief scores: East Zone 187/6 in 70 overs (Saurabh Tiwary 84 batting,Basant Mohanty 51 batting,Stuart Binny 2/40,A Mithun 2/43) vs South Zone.

Tags:

Duleep Trophy semi final North Zone Yuvraj Singh