Dhawan ton makes it North Zone's day

North Zone 251 for 3 (Dhawan 101, Dewan 65) v West Zone
Scorecard

North Zone captain Shikhar Dhawan, with a ton, led his side to a bright start on the first day of the Duleep Trophy quarter-final in Chennai. Following scores of 99*, 152 and 61 in the Challenger Trophy, he scored 101 here in an opening stand of 164. His partner Rahul Dewan scored a half-century, as the duo weren't separated till the 58th over of the day to lay the base for a strong first-innings total. West Zone ended with three wickets - the openers and Sunny Singh, who fell four short of a half-century in the final over of the day.

Fifteen boundaries in Dhawan's innings boosted his strike-rate to 56, the highest among all batsmen. His departure - he was stumped off offspinner Kamlesh Makwana - was followed by his partner Dewan's dismissal, also off the same bowler, seven overs later. A third-wicket stand of 76 between Sunny Singh and Nitin Saini looked to see them through to the close before Singh was caught behind in the 90th over, as the day ended.

Left-arm spinner Harmeet Singh, who was part of the India Under-19 squad that won the World Cup in Australia, was the most expensive of all the bowlers, with an economy rate of 4.16 in his 18 overs.