Skipper Michael Yardy cracked a brilliant unbeaten 151 to propel England Lions to a healthy 273 for four on the opening day of their concluding Duleep Trophy group match against West Zone played at the Motibaug Palace Cricket Ground here on Monday.

The 27-year-old Sussex Southpaw, who shared 141-run partnership with Jon Trott (44) for the fourth wicket, hit 20 boundaries in his chanceless unfinished knock, which came off 291 balls. The visitors, who are leading the group with 5 points from their previous match against Central Zone, now have a fare chance of making it to the final if they manage to draw the match with the first innings lead as the latter have only three points in their kitty.

North restricted

Disciplined bowling performances by pacers Shib Shanker Paul and Debasis Mohanty helped East Zone restrict defending champions North Zone at 260 for the loss of seven wickets on the opening day of four-day Duleep Trophy cricket match being played at Madhavrao Scindia ground here on Monday, adds PTI from Rajkot.

North Zone skipper Mithun Manhas won the toss and decided to bat. But openers, Aakash Chopra and Shikhar Dhawan, failed to give a good start.

Paul provided the breakthrough by scalping Chopra (10, 52b, 1x4) and then dismissed Karan Goel for naught. While his new-ball partner Debasis Mohanty got Dhawan (18, 68b, 2x4) and reduced North to 27 for 3 in the first hour of play.

But a defiant knock by North captain Manhas and his two useful partnerships with Yashpal Singh (25, 52b, 4x4) and Rajat Bhatia (24, 56b, 3x4) helped his side recover from the early jolts.

Manhas, who reached his half century off just 67 balls with 9 fours and one six, departed soon after the tea break. He made 88 off 131 balls (13x4, 1x6).