AURANGABAD, DEC 20: The stage at the Aurangabad District Cricket Association Stadium here was set for a pot-boiler. But Ashish Winston Zaidi enacted a coup and rewrote the script with a predictable end. The wiry Central Zone medium-pacer dealt three striking blows this evening to flatten West Zone's endeavour of claiming the Duleep Trophy. On a dusty bowl, Zaidi blended a few leg-breaks with telling effect to mark the downfall of Sameer Dighe (14), Jatin Paranjape (18) and Hrishikesh Kanitkar (0). Led to shoulder total responsibility of the pace department owing to Jai Prakash Yadav's ankle injury, Zaidi underlined his abilities with a stirring display Zaidi's second spell (5.5-2-8-3) interrupted after Dighe's dismissal in the last over of the day has left West with a herculean task on the concluding day of the five-day duel tomorrow. If they do manage to post another 222 runs, then the West Zone batsmen can well be decorated with the O Henry Award for Sensational Anti-climax.Until Zaidi pitchforkedhimself into the limelight, it was teammate Gagan Khoda's batting brilliance (107) that shone through the day. The other Central Zone batsmen, however, failed to compliment Khoda and succumbed to the guiles of left-arm spinners Sitanshu Kotak and Nilesh Kulkarni. Central, who were cruising at 179-3 at one stage, after resuming the day on 58-1, lost way once Khoda departed. Seven wickets fell in an hour for the addition of a mere 24 runs which paved way for an interesting finish. Kulkarni did most of the damage claiming three wickets of seven balls. The industrious Kotak, who triggered the slide, captured four wickets.
Khoda's knock was a batting sermon to his contemporaries as he skilfully charted the innings on a powdery surface. He accumulated runs with judicious ease and was alluring while clouting the three straight sixes. The Rajasthan opener, who furnished his team's semi-final victory over North Zone logging 80 runs, thus relaunched himself into reckoning in the presence of National selectors AjitWadekar, Ashok Malhotra, Shivlal Yadav and Anil Deshpande.
Scoreboard
Central Zone (2nd innings; overnight 58-1): Jyoti Yadav lbw b Siddiqui 0 (11b, 9m), Gagan Khoda c Bahutule b Kotak 107 (229b, 287m, 11x4, 3x6), Jai Prakash Yadav c Paranjpe b Kotak 35 (135b, 172m, 4x4), Amay Khurasia lbw b Kuruvilla 1 (20b, 27m), Mohd Kaif c Kanitkar b Kotak 27 (63b, 81m, 4x4), Yogesh Ghare lbw b Kuruvilla 14 (27b, 40m, 2x4), Gyanendra Pandey c Kulkarni b Kotak 10 (38b, 47m, 1x4), Manoj Mudgal c Paranjape b Kulkarni 0 (5b, 4m), Murali Karthik lbw b Kulkarni 0, Ashish Zaidi c Paranjape b Kulkarni 0 (3b, 2m), Kulamani Parida not out 0 (1b, 2m). Extras: (lb2, nb6, w1) 9. Total: (all out in 88.2 overs, 346 mins) 203 Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-80, 3-154, 4-179, 5-189, 6-200, 7-201, 8-203, 9-203. Bowling: Mhambrey 5-3-5-0, Siddiqui 9-3-11-1, Kulkarni 19-4-41-3 (nb1), Kuruvilla 24-9-52-2 (4nb), Bahutule 11-2-32-0 (nb1), Kotak 14.2-3-41-4 (1w), Kanitkar 6-1-19-0.
West Zone (2nd innings): Wasim Jaffer c Mudgal b Pandey 8(30b, 29m, 1x4), Sameer Dighe b Zaidi 14 (92b, 118m, 2x4), Jatin Paranjpe b Zaidi 18, (60b, 58m, 2x4), Hrishikesh Kanitkar b Zaidi 0 (3b, 2m), Abhijit Kale batting 2 (14b, 24m). Extras: (3nb) 3. Total: (for four wikets in 32.5 overs, 118 mins) 45 Fall of wickets: 1-10, 2-38, 3-38, 4-45 Bowling: Zaidi 7.5-2-16-3 (2nb), Karthik 16-10-7-0, Pandey 5-1-16-1, Parida 4-2-5-0.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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