Atith’s fine show spares West’s blushes

Bengaluru: An assembly line of Indian Test batting hopefuls was on show for West Zone on the opening day of their Duleep Trophy semifinal against Central Zone here on Wednesday. But most of them failed to deliver. At the Alur cricket ground, where West Zone opted to bat against Central Zone, their four key batters – Prithvi Shaw (26), Cheteshwar Pujara (28), Suryakumar Yadav (7) and Sarfaraz Khan (0) contributed a mere 61 runs and it took Atith Sheth’s fighting half-century (74) to save the defending champions the embarrassment of a below-par score. When stumps were drawn, West Zone were 216 for 8 in 90 overs. With this being the only red-ball domestic tournament this year— Ranji Trophy begins in January 2024 — it was crucial for the players to make the opportunity count. Shaw and skipper Priyank Panchal gave their team a steady start but their 43-run opening stand was broken by the in-form Saurabh Kumar. What followed was a parade of West batters with another four wickets falling for the addition of 22 runs. Pujara decided to grind it out and in an innings which lasted over two hours, he scored 28 off 102 deliveries. Much like Suryakumar and Sarfaraz, Pujara fell to Central skipper and pacer Shivam Mavi, who returned an impressive 4/43 on the day. The 45-run stand between Sheth and Pujara and the former’s 73-run association with Dharmendrasinh Jadeja (39) halted West’s free fall. Brief scores: West: 216/8 in 80 overs (Prithvi Shaw 26, Cheteshwar Pujara 28, Atith Sheth 74, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja 39; Shivam Mavi 4-43) vs Central .