BENGALURU, July 12 (IANS) The Bullers starred in West Zone as they demolished South Zone to 182/7 and took control at the end of a rain-hit first day of the Duleep Trophy Final at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, here on Wednesday.
On the opening day of the Summit, only 65 balls were bowled after most of the final session was washed away by rain.
For South Zone, their captains Hanuma Vihari and Tilak Varma added 79 runs for the third wicket. While Vihari scored 63 off 130 balls with nine boundaries, Varma made 40 from 87 balls with five fours and one six.
The day started with Chintan Gaja bringing out R Samarth, who slashed to wicketkeeper Harvik Desai. Mayank Agarwal made 28 wickets out of his 47 deliveries and even completed 7,000 runs in first-class cricket, before he was dismissed by the middle fielder Atit Sheth.
Vihari and Varma, the Hyderabad-based batting duo, have survived long stretches without a home run, but the duo ensured they stayed in the crease. But after the lunch break, Varma fell after lunging at Desai.
His dismissal caused a drop in flow which saw Ricky Bhui running back again to Desai off Gagga, followed by Sachin Bibi who caught him short at mid-wicket from left-arm Shams Mulani. Vihari marched forward to get the fifty, before Mulaney sacked him in the fifty-eighth over, with a tea break.
After tea, play could not begin immediately as it rained, with Washington Sundar and R Sai Kishore creasing. Just as it felt like the stumps were going to happen, the match resumed between two periods of rain and Sai Kishore was taken out by Arzan Nagwaswalla before the play could end.
Brief scores: South Zone 182/7 in 65 overs (Hanuma Vihari 63, Tilak Varma 40, Shams Mulani 2/19, Chintan Gaja 2/27) vs West Zone
– Jans
is / ak
