On the first day of the Duleep Trophy semifinal in Alur on Wednesday, July 5, 2023, Central Zone bowlers headed by Captain Shivam Mavi (4/43) hushed the heavy guns in the West Zone batting line-up to restrict them to 216 for 8 and seize control of the match.
Atit Sheth, who hit a cool 74 off 129 balls, provided the West Zone’s lone source of resistance.
Due to the inclusion of Cheteshwar Pujara, Suryakumar Yadav, Prithvi Shaw, and Sarfaraz Khan in their starting lineup, West Zone began the contest as the clear favourites.
Despite the KSCA Oval’s generally cloudy weather, West may have chosen to bat after winning the toss for this reason. However, none of them managed to ignite as West had hoped.
Shaw and Captain Priyank Panchal got off to a confident start with some help from good fortune. Vivek Singh dropped Shaw at first slip off pacer Yash Thakur on 16, giving him a life.
Shaw was, however, dropped by left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar, who claimed eight wickets against East Zone in the quarterfinals.
Shaw was forced to leave somewhat reluctantly as Dhruv Jorel successfully blocked the Mumbaikar’s punch at a stupid point.
As a result of the dismissal, West began to lose wickets often. On 7, Vivek dropped his second catch of the game, this one off Shivam Mavi, giving Suryakumar a reprieve as well.
Suryakumar missed the chance, though, as the very next ball was struck away from the body and landed up in Jorel’s hands.
In his last three domestic seasons, Sarfaraz had amassed a mountain of runs, which he rode into this encounter. But on this particular day, all he could manage was to draw a Mavi delivery back onto his stumps and survive for a 12-ball not out.
Pujara seemed poised for the long run as he made a 102-ball 28. However, as West slid to 110 for 6 in the 49th over, Mavi came back to dismiss the seasoned batsman. His long shot missed Amandeep Khare in the wide first slip.
The collision between Avesh Khan and Rinku Singh, who were pursuing a skier played by Sheth, was the sole startling moment throughout this period of complete dominance for Central.
Avesh did not bowl for the remainder of the day, and Rinku’s subsequent involvement in the game was also minimal.
Avesh’s absence might have decreased Central’s bowling’s explosiveness, which Sheth took advantage of with Dharmendra Jadeja’s assistance.
The seventh wicket partnership stood firm while scoring 73 runs to fend off the tenacious Central bowlers for nearly 25 overs. The obstinate stance came to an end when Saransh Jain expelled Jadeja.
Soon after, Mavi forced Sheth to take an edge, which Jurel promptly snatched up at the slip cordon as Central left their mark on the day.