Solid batting by the middle order saw North Zone post 310 for 5 against Central Zone on the opening day of the four-day Duleep Trophy match at the Keenan stadum, in Jamshedpur, on Friday.
Winning the toss, North skipper Mithun Manhas decided to bat on a good batting strip. But his team was jolted immediately as Test discard Akash Chopra was adjudged leg before wicket to Praveen Kumar for one.
But the in-form Gautam Gambhir and Ravneet Ricky (20) steadied the innings in a 56-run partnership for the second wicket.
Gambhir, who was unbeaten on 67 at lunch, however, lost concentration just after the break as he tried to hit J P Yadav on the off-side, but miscued and Brajesh Tomar took a fine catch at gully.
His 70 runs were inclusive of seven hits to the fence.
Yashpal Singh, who scored a solid 74, inclusive of nine fours and two sixes to emerge the top scorer for his side, was also involved in a 67-run stand with Gambhir for the third wicket. He then contributed handsomely with Mahesh Rawat before getting out hit wicket to Yadav.
Though captain Manhas was out cheaply for two, Joginder Sharma and Rawat played sensibly, putting on 99 valuable runs in an unfinished sixth wicket stand to pave the way for big total.
The former was unbeaten on 65 (9x4,2x6) and while the latter was not out on 59 (9x4).
For Central Zone, captain Yadav was the most successful bowler, picking two wickets for 50 runs. Praveen Kumar, Anand Rajan and Piyush Chawal bagged a wicket apiece.
Scorecard
North Zone (1st innings):
Akash Chopra lbw P Kumar 1
Gautam Gambhir c Brajesh Tomar b J P Yadav 70
Ravneet Ricky c Brajesh Tomar b Anand Rajan 20
Yashpal Singh (hit-wicket) J P Yadav 74
Mithun Manhas b Piyush Chawla 2
Mahesh Rawat batting 59
Joginder Sharma batting 65
Extras: (b-5, lb-4, nb-10) 19
Total: (in 92 overs for 5 wkts) 310
Fall of wickets: 2-1, 58-2,125-3,132-4, 211-5.
Bowling: Praveen Kumar 19-4-58-1, J P Yadav 24-11-50-2, Anand Rajan 10-1-36-1, Piyush Chawla 21-2-81-1, Murali Karthik 18-1-76-0.
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