Yuvraj’s double hundred silences Central, critics

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Yuvraj Singh staked a claim for a Test berth with a brilliant double century as North Zone assumed total control of their Duleep Trophy semifinal against Central Zone, being at the Rajiv Gandhi International stadium, on Monday.
Resuming at 346/4, North Zone added 105 to their tally with 75 coming off Yuvraj’s blade before being all out for 451 on the second day.
Central began their reply well before a mini-collapse pushed them onto the backfoot as they ended the second day at 146/5.
Yuvraj started the day with a flourish, scoring freely and at will, bringing up a magnificent double hundred even as he appeared to run out of partners. His overnight partner, Paras Dogra, didn’t last long, getting dismissed early in the morning session.
By the time Yuvraj was caught and bowled by Murali Kartik, North had already amassed 441. Yuvraj consumed only 241 deliveries for his 208 and his knock was studded with 33 fours and three sixes.
Central’s openers started cautiously, steadily gaining in confidence as they went about collecting runs in an unhurried manner. How­ever, Tanmay Srivas­tava was run out for 23 when the score was on 64 and that triggered a mini-collapse.

SCOREBOARD
North Zone (1st innings): R. Dewan lbw b Singh 17, S. Dhawan c&b Kartik 121, N Saini c B. Kumar b P. Kumar 35, Yuvraj Singh c&b Kartik 208, Mandeep Singh c Kartik b P Kumar 4, P. Dogra lbw b P. Kumar 37, R. Dhawan c Kaif b B.Kumar 3, A. Mishra lbw b Kartik 3, R. Sharma b Kartik 0, I. Sharma b P. Kumar 8, P. Awana (not out) 6. Extras (b1, lb4, w2, nb2) 9. Total (in 119.2 overs) 451.
FoW:1-35, 2-110, 3-270, 4-275, 5-354, 6-357, 7-386, 8-390, 9-441.
Bowling: P. Kumar 27.2-27-92-4, B. Kumar 28-5-85-1, Rituraj Singh 19-2-83-1, Jalaj S Saxena 16-1-66-0, M. Kartik 29-4-120-4.

Central Zone (1st innings): T. Srivastava (run out) 23, V. Saxena c Yuvraj Singh b Mishra 33, M. Kaif (batting) 34, R. Bist lbw b Awana 4, A. Menaria c S. Dhawan b Awana 4, Jalaj S Saxena lbw b R. Dhawan 15, M Rawat (batting) 14. Extras (b5, nb14) 19. Total (for five wickets in 58 overs) 146.
FoW: 1-64, 2-71, 3-80, 4-84, 5-117.
Bowling: I. Sharma 10-2-23-0, P. Awana 11-1-29-2, R. Dhawan 11-2-21-1, R. Sharma 12-3-31-0, A. Mishra 13-3-31-1, Yuvraj Singh 1-0-6-0.