da dobrowin： Madhya Pradesh’s Raja Ali kept Central Zone’s slim hopes of qualifyingfor the Duleep Trophy final alive with a gallant unbeaten century onthe penultimate day of their semifinal against North Zone at Guwahation Sunday
12-Dec-1999Madhya Pradesh’s Raja Ali kept Central Zone’s slim hopes of qualifyingfor the Duleep Trophy final alive with a gallant unbeaten century onthe penultimate day of their semifinal against North Zone at Guwahation Sunday. The 23-year-old right hander saw the holders reach 328 forseven at the end of the fourth day of the match. But Central who stillneed another 216 runs to overhaul North Zone’s first innings total of543, face an uphill task.Central resumed at 149 for three and suffered a major blow when openerJyoti Yadav, after batting 383 minutes was caught by Dharmani offSodhi for 70. During his patient knock, Yadav had faced 243 balls andhit six fours. The fourth wicket stand between Yadav and Ali hadrealized 74 runs off 32 overs.Skipper Gyanendra Pandey did not last long, being caught by Sodhi offChopra for two. A little later, S Shukla was out for seven and Centralwere in dire straits at 199 for six. However M Saif and Ali then cametogether for a seventh wicket partnership that revived Central’s fainthopes. The two put on 91 runs off 34.3 overs before Saif was legbefore to Mongia for 35. He batted 2-1/2 hours, faced 105 balls andhit five fours. PV Gandhe joined Ali who had in the meantime passedthe three figure mark. But having scoring three off 17 balls, Gandheretired hurt. Ashish Winston Zaidi (12) however stayed with Ali tillstumps. Ali has so far faced 283 balls for his 122 and has hit 16fours and a six.