South Zone’s profligate top order justified West Zone’s decision to bowl first at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday. Priyank Panchal’s call to insert the opposition as the Duleep Trophy final got underway took many by surprise. It wasn’t as if heavily overcast skies greeted the players, or that the pitch was particularly green and promised to offer assistance aplenty to the quicker bowlers.
West in good position
But the end certainly justified the means so far as holders West were concerned as they fed off a series of loose shots from the opposition to finish a truncated Day One with their noses in front. When play was called off due to bad light, South were 182 for seven in 65 overs. Hanuma Vihari and the classy Tilak Varma pieced together a sensible third-wicket stand of 79 after openers R Samarth and Mayank Agarwal had been dismissed owing to questionable shot-selection in the opening session, both caught behind the stumps. They laid the foundation for a healthy first innings total through judicious choice of shots and a good understanding stemming from being teammates at Andhra.
Also Read: Duleep Trophy final: Plethora of batting stars set to shine in West vs South title battle
Nagwaswalla picks up Varma
Just as they were looking to go on the ascendancy, left-armer Arzan Nagwaswalla produced the breakthrough, angling the ball across Varma to evict him, caught behind by Harvik Desai. That sent South into a tailspin, the loss of five wickets for 55 runs inexorably setting them back. Mulani’s left-arm spin wasn’t requisitioned until the 50th over, but in a first spell of two for 19 from five overs, he broke South’s resistance by also accounting for Vihari. Having batted beautifully for three and a quarter hours, Vihari was bowled off the inside edge trying to essay a cut.
Post Lunch, 118 minutes of play was lost in two installments due to rain and bad light and when the teams came out again, Nagaswalla produced a snorter to have Sai Kishore caught at gully, leaving the visitors the happier outfit when stumps were drawn at 5:30 pm.
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