Hard toil for West Zone as Central take sizeable lead

West Zone vs Central Zone

West Zone endured a hard toil on the third day as they were kept at bay by Central Zone. Shubham Sharma and Rajat Patidar continued to pile on the runs when play began on the third day before Dharmendrasinh Jadeja broke the partnership. With Patidar gone for 77, Jadeja struck again before Shubham was run out four runs short of a century. [At 322/5], there was an opportunity for West Zone to get the job done.

However, the lower order came up with a stunning resistance that frustrated the bowling side. Upendra Yadav and Harsh Dubey added 134 for the sixth wicket that helped their side fetch the first innings lead. Dubey was the more aggressive of the two as he was scoring at a strike rate over 80. It was Jadeja again who broke the stand to provide some much-needed relief but it proved to be a short-lived one.

While Yadav too missed out on a ton, departing for 87, Saransh Jain and Deepak Chahar added valuable runs. Those valuable contributions pushed the total beyond 550 as Central Zone went into stumps in a great position with a lead of 118.

Brief scores: Central Zone 556/8 (Shubham Sharma 96, Upendra Yadav 87, Rajat Patidar 77; Dharmendrasinh Jadeja 4/101) lead West Zone 438 by 118 runs

South Zone vs North Zone

Shubham Khajuria managed to bat out the entire day and stayed not out on 128 and was involved in fruitful stands with Ayush Badoni and Nishant Sindhu before South Zone finished proceedings on a high note.

Gurjapneet Singh hurt North Zone early in the day with the wickets of Ankit Kumar and Yash Dhull to reduce them to 38/2. Badoni then steadied his side alongside Khajuria for a brief period before getting trapped lbw for 40. Reeling at 101/3, North Zone's innings was revived by an excellent century stand.

Nishant, who had picked up a five-wicket haul earlier in the game, contributed with the bat as well with a vital 82. But in a matter of just three overs right before close of play, North Zone lost the plot as Gurjapneet struck again which was then followed by a run out. Trailing by still 258 runs, North Zone will have their task cut out with two days still left in the game.

Brief scores: North Zone 278/5 (Shubham Khajuria 128*, Nishant Sindhu 82; Gurjapneet Singh 3/67) trail South Zone 536 by 258 runs