Riding on brilliant centuries by North Zone skipper Shikhar Dhawan and comeback Yuvraj Singh, North Zone rallied to 346-6 against Central Zone on the first day of their Duleep Trophy semifinal at the RGIC Stadium in Hyderabad on Sunday.
Under scorching heat and playing his first four-day match after his comeback, Yuvraj Singh kept his cool to make a grand statement of his intentions of being ready for the longer version of the game by scoring a classy, unbeaten century, writes The Hindu.
Even as North Zone captain Shikhar Dhawan notched up his second consecutive century (121, 200b, 14x4) in the Duleep Trophy this season, it was Yuvraj’s (133 batting, 152b, 20x4, 2x6) show all the way as the two not only struck hundreds but also strung together a 160-run partnership for the third wicket.
It helped the team score a healthy 346 for four at close of play on the first day of the four-day Duleep Trophy semifinal against Central Zone at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium here on Sunday.
The best part of Yuvraj’s innings was the way he was focussed, not showing signs of any discomfort in the heat.
More importantly, he played all his trademark strokes with great ease on either side of the wicket.
He not only found the gaps, but also hit two imperious sixes off left-arm spinner Murali Kartik, the second one helping him reach his century.
Meanhwhile The Times of India writes that, Yuvraj looked in sublime form and showed no signs of the ravages of cancer that had put a question mark over his career only a few months back. The Punjab player batted for 219 minutes and remained unconquered on 133 as North Zone made a commanding 346 for four at stumps.
Yuvraj, who began with a silken boundary off the first ball, struck 20 fours and two huge sixes as he faced 152 balls and remained largely untroubled. The Central bowlers failed to make much of an impact on him and may well be in for some more trouble when the batsman resumes his innings on day 2.
Yuvraj's love story with the RGIC stadium seems to be growing stronger with each innings. He had notched up two centuries in ODIs on this ground earlier - 103 against South Africa in 2005 and 121 against Australia in 2007.