Central Zone was in the driving seat on day three of the Duleep Trophy quarterfinal against East Zone at the Alur (1) Cricket Ground here on Friday.
After failing to build on its openers’ solid effort amidst three fiery spells from Ishan Porel, Central folded up for 239 in its second essay. It set up a 300-run target before Saurabh Kumar (four for 33) gnawed at the East top-order, leaving it 69 for six at stumps.
On a deck that retained its hardness, the East batters failed to apply themselves again. Captain Abhimanyu Easwaran, dismissed for a golden duck in the first innings, fell for 11 as he misread Saurabh and ceded control over his stump. Saurabh continued his procession after Anustup Majumdar and Shahbaz Ahmed were left displeased with umpire Mohit Krishnadas’ decisions that had them adjudged leg-before and caught-behind respectively.
