Cheteshwar Pujara scores fighting ton in Duleep Trophy semis

West Zone and Central Zone are currently playing a Duleep Trophy semi-final encounter in Alur. Conditions were quite conducive to pacers on the first couple of days. Central Zone captain Shivam Mavi picked up six wickets in the first innings. While left-arm pacer Arzan Nagwaswalla stood out with a five-fer in the second innings. The pitch began to aid spinners on Day 3 as West Zone tried to stretch their 92-run first innings lead.

Suryakumar Yadav scored a fluent 52 off 58 balls. Cheteshwar Pujara stole the show with a monk-like century in difficult batting conditions. The likes of Prithvi Shaw, Priyank Panchal, and Sarfaraz Khan could not get going, but the experienced Pujara, who was recently dropped from the Indian Test side, stood tall in adverse conditions to take his team to a position of strength.

By registering his 60th First-Class century, the Saurashtra batter equalled the record of former India captain Vijay Hazare. He struck 13 boundaries en route to his hundred and helped West Zone extend their lead by over 350 runs. In the first innings, Mavi dismissed Pujara after he had played 102 balls and scored 28 runs.