Bhuvneshwar fight-back to take Central Zone into Duleep Trophy final

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Bhuvneshwar Kumar played the finest innings of his first-class career so far as Central Zone made it to the Duleep Trophy final for the second successive year as they beat North Zone by virtue of 18-run first innings lead.

Central Zone scored 469 in reply to North's 451, riding on an astonishing 127-run 10th wicket partnership between Bhuvneshwar, who hit a career-best 128, and Rituraj who chipped in with 39. The title clash will thus be a repeat of the 2011 edition with defending champions East Zone also making it to the final after winning by virtue of first-innings lead against South Zone.

The Central vs North zone match was over as a contest when Bhuvneshwar scored two runs off Ishant Sharma to give his team the all-important first-innings lead. It was after Rituraj had hit another Delhi speedster Parvinder Awana for two boundaries to level the scores.

Bhuvneshwar hit 13 fours and three sixes in his innings. "It was one of the best innings of my first-class career. I am happy that I have been able to win it for my team," Bhuvneshwar said after the match.

The young UP all-rounder's match-winning performance also managed to take a bit of sheen off Yuvraj Singh's classic effort in his first four-day game in more than a year but he admitted he wasn't thinking about that. "Not really. You don't think about some other player's game when you go out there to bat. I was only thinking about how long can I bat," Bhuvneshwar said, adding that the flat track also helped in batting. The final will be played on November 21.

For the record, North made 187 for four in the second innings as opener Rahul Dewan made 80. Yuvraj Singh didn't come out to bat. Central were given a target of 170 runs but after 13 overs, the two captains decided to call off the proceedings.

Brief Scores: North 451 & 187/4 (R Dewan 80); Central Zone: 469 in 154.1 overs (Bhuvneshwar Kumar 128, Mahesh Rawat 71, Mohammed Kaif 64, Rituraj Singh 39 no, R Dhawan 3/66) & 39/1.