The track at Lahli is known for assisting fast bowlers and East Zone, after winning the toss decided to bowl first. But, East Zone, packed with five fast bowlers, failed to make an early impact, as they bowled too short and missed a couple of early chances. South Zone dominated the first couple of sessions as Robin Uthappa batted patiently and scored a brilliant hundred. Uthappa batted for almost two and a half sessions and scored 120 runs.

Uthappa got a life in the 7th over when Sudip Chatterjee dropped a regulation catch at third slip. But after that, Uthappa made full use of the chance given him to by Chatterjee and marshaled the South Zone’s innings. Robin Uthappa was not able to play last year’s Duleep Trophy owing to an injury. He also missed over half of the Ranji Trophy season. But, in the last few months, Uthappa has been in a sublime form and he has been striking the ball really well. In the seventh edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL7) and also in the Champions League Twenty20 2014 (CLT20 2014), Uthappa was Kokata Knight Riders’ (KKR) best batsman.

Many were expecting that Uthappa will be picked for the upcoming ODI series against Sri Lanka, but the mature knock here will keep him in contention for the Australia tour.

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Talking about the Duleep Trophy semi-final between East Zone and South Zone, Uthappa was the only run-scorer for South Zone, as all other batsmen struggled to on the green Lahli track. East Zone’s veteran all-rounder Laxmi Shukla was the best bowler on show. Shukla bowled a probing line all day long, and as soon as the second new ball was taken he took the lead and finished with impressive figures of 4 for 30 in his 17 overs.

At the end of Day 1: South Zone 238/9 in 86.5 overs (Uthappa 120, Karun Nair 32; Lakshmi Ratan Shukla 4/30) vs East Zone at Lahli.

source: http://www.thecricketlounge.com / The Cricket Lounge /