Pujara century puts West Zone in driver's seat; Vyshak takes five to skittle North

Cheteshwar Pujara hit his 60th first-class century to leave West Zone in a dominating position on the third day of their Duleep Trophy semi-final against Central Zone in Alur. Rain stopped play immediately after he was run-out for 133, with West ending on 292 for 9 - thus, 384 ahead of Central - even as no play was possible after that stoppage.

Pujara added crucial partnerships with the middle and lower orders after West were 150 for 4 at one stage, when Saurabh Kumar dismissed Sarfaraz Khan for 6. He shared important stands of 47, 32, 21 and 26 for the fifth, seventh, eighth and ninth wickets, respectively, as the defending champions took one step towards the final. Pujara picked up pace towards the latter stage of his innings after initially taking his time to build his innings, going for his shots with the tail for company.

However, Central's spinners Saurabh and Saransh Jain kept a lid at the other end, sharing seven of the nine wickets to fall between them. In fact, all six wickets went to the duo on the third day, with Saurabh finishing with 4 for 79, and Jain with 3 for 56. After Saurabh had struck first to remove the overnight batter Sarfaraz, Jain grabbed the next three wickets to keep West in check before Saurabh got Chintan Gaja.

That continued a sensational Duleep Trophy for Saurabh, who leads the wicket-taking charts with 16. However, his batting team-mates might have to deliver something special even if West were to declare at this stage and set Central 385 to win. And they will be especially wary during the chase after having folded for 128 in the first innings.

Rain spoiled the party in nearby Bengaluru too, leaving the match between South Zone and North Zone tantalisingly poised ahead of the final day's play. Inclement weather interrupted play after South were 21 without loss in their chase of 215, first forcing an early tea break and then complete abandonment of the evening session. But before that, Vijaykumar Vyshak's 5 for 76 helped South restrict North to 211 in the second innings, after they were three runs ahead in the first.

Vyshak led the way, picking up four of the last seven wickets to fall, as North slid from a comfortable position of 146 for 3. The collapse began when Prabhsimran Singh, on 63, found the fielder at deep square leg while trying to pull a short ball from Vyshak in the 37th over. Two overs later, Sai Kishore dismissed Ankit Kumar, while Vyshak struck twice in the 46th: he first had Jayant Yadav inside edging on to his stumps, and then Pulkit Narang slashing one to slip.

Vyshak's fifth came when Ricky Bhui held on to a good, low catch down the leg side to send Nishant Sindhu back, even as Sai Kishore helped clean the tail up with the last two wickets to fall.

Earlier, Prabhsimran played an enterprising knock which contained 11 fours, although North needed help from No. 9 Harshit Rana to boost their score. Rana smashed 38 at better than a run a ball, setting the game up for a final day which could see more rain breaks.