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Sponsored by Priyank Panchal’s gritty innings, West Zone challenged South Zone bowlers while chasing down a whopping 298 and ended day four of the Duleep Trophy final at 182 for five here on Saturday.
They still needed another 116 runs to retain their title, setting the stage for an exciting closing day.
In the first session, South, who was making 181 for 7 overs, was bowled out for 230 when left-arm bowler Dharmendra Jadeja grabbed five wickets.
But the hero of the day was the Western District Commander. Panchal, who completed 8,000 runs in first-class cricket on his way to 92 off 205 balls, kept West hopes alive on a draining day.
Panchal and Sarfaraz Khan combined 98 runs for a fifth-wicket alliance in which the former was the guiding force.
Panchal has been one of the leading home run hitters over the past few seasons, and it wasn’t too hard to see why. He gave his years of experience to frustrate southern players for 315 minutes.
The Gujarat batsman, who grabbed the headlines after his 1,310-run season in 2016-17, showed his strong temper despite wickets falling at the other end on a regular basis.
Panchal and Cheteshwar Pujara (15) showed their first glimpse of the Western fight with a 57-run alliance for the third wicket off 125 balls.
They seemed unfazed for the most part, but Basuki Kaushik ended the buoyant situation by dismissing Pujara. The thick outer edge of the seasoned dough went to Tilak Varma on his short leg forward.
Suryakumar Yadav continued his disappointing display in this Duleep Cup, and slipped to another low.
Mumbaikar didn’t give Kaushik a shot as the ball came bouncing on his pads and referee Akshay Totori didn’t have to think long to lift his finger.
At 79 for 4, West seemed to be on the path to doom and they needed some solidity.
Panchal and Sarfaraz (48) did just that. Together they batted for 126 minutes and for 157 balls as West began dreaming of a victory that at one point seemed out of reach.
Sarfaraz was also very lucky. While in Zero, he popped in for a non-existent song and Panchal brought him back. But Sachin Bibi’s throw was off wicket-keeper Ricky Bhui’s head, and saved Sarfraz.
Visak Vijayakumar resorted to a short pitch ball strategy which he used with good results in the first innings.
This time, however, both Panchal and Sarfaraz were better prepared to tone him down, though the latter dealt a blow to his helmet.
Just as it looked like the pair would take the West to close safely, Sarfaraz fell to R Sai Kishore.
A left-arm spinner pushed the ball up in the air a bit faster, and Sarfaraz played all over it to make a bowling.
The South may feel a great relief to see Sarfraz back down but they still have to complete a big task.
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