Skipper Abhinav Mukund and Baba Aparajith smashed hundreds as South Zone took a firm grip of the Duleep trophy semifinal against Central Zone by reaching 479/9, which gave them a 258-run lead on the third and penultimate day of the match here on Saturday.
Resuming at their overnight score 137/2, Mukund (111) and Aparajith (109) shared a 190-run third wicket stand to give South the upperhand in the match.
Manish Pandey (81) and CM Gautam (69) also chipped in with fine contributions to steer South. For Central Zone, skipper Piyush Chawla was the top wicket-taker with 4/159 in 43 overs. At stumps, Malolan Rangarajan (30) and Sandeep Warrior (0) were holding fort for South.
Mukund, who was on 61 overnight, struck 11 fours during his 318-ball stay at the crease. Aparajith, on the other hand, faced 231 deliveries that yielded nine fours and three sixes. Their partnership was broken when Aparajith became Imtiaz Ahmed’s only victim.
Published 12 October 2013, 19:08 IST