Bengaluru: Narayan Jagadeesan blended caution with aggression in right proportions during his undefeated knock of 148 as South Zone were comfortably placed at 297 for three against North Zone on the opening day of the Duleep Trophy semi-final at the BCCI-CEG ground.
Jagadeesan, who recently earned his maiden India squad call-up during the fifth Test against England at Oval last month, was flawless during the 260 balls that he faced, hitting 13 fours and two sixes.
He enjoyed a solid opening stand of 103 with Hyderabad’s Tanmay Agarwal (43) and another 128 for the second wicket with Karnataka southpaw Devdutt Padikkal (57), batting through the 81 overs sent down by North bowlers during the day.
Anshul Kamboj (1/47 in 15 overs) and Aquib Nabi (0/41 in 14 overs) weren’t exactly incisive after their opening spell as Jagadeesan played all the bowlers with consummate ease.
The Tamil Nadu stumper did get an early reprieve when he tried an expansive drive off medium pacer Kamboj’s full-length delivery only to edge one to North keeper Kanhaiya Wadhawan, who took a smart low catch.
But the field umpire ruled it no-ball for overstepping.
Having added 79 off 24 overs for the opening stand in the first session, Jagadeesan pressed on the accelerator even as he completed his half-century off 124 balls. The first 50 runs had a liberal sprinkling of ones and twos.
The next 50 was like a breeze as it came in only 60 deliveries.
During this phase, he was particularly severe on Himachal Pradesh left-arm spinner Mayank Dagar, milking him for 33 runs off the 22 deliveries that he faced. It included two huge sixes and three boundaries.
Padikkal was also precise in his shot selection and relied more on drives and cuts during their 168-ball stand.
He was looking good for a big score but at the stroke of lunch, he chased a wide delivery from Kamboj to get caught behind.
North Zone team had something to celebrate as next man Mohit Kale was trapped by Haryana left-arm spinner Nishant Sindhu.
Brief Scores:
South Zone 1st Innings: 297/3 in 81 overs (Narayan Jagadeesan 148, Devdutt Padikkal 57; Anshul Kamboj 1/47). =
