Vaibhav Sooryavanshi showed he could unleash his pyrotechnics in red-ball cricket as well. But the rest of the East Zone batting lineup failed to complement him.
They could only be on a par with Central Zone’s first-innings total of 266 in the Duleep Trophy semi-final on Monday.
However, East will still feel a little better as they had Central struggling at 45/3 in the second innings at Stumps on Day II, at the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru.
Mukesh Kumar has so far struck twice with the scalps of opener Kunal Chandela and Central captain Rajat Patidar, whom he dismissed for the second time in the game. Mohammed Shami accounted for Aryan Juyal.
It seemed East were on course to take a sizeable lead when 15-year-old Sooryavanshi blasted seven fours and as many sixes for his 81-ball 92, his second half-century in first-class cricket.
He also stitched a 161- run opening stand with Abhimanyu Easwaran (69). But soon after the left-hander’s dismissal off left-arm spinner Harsh Dubey (4/66), the East innings fell off track as they lost their remaining nine wickets for just 105 runs.
Brief scores: Central Zone 266 & 45/3. East Zone 266 (Vaibhav Sooryavanshi 92; Harsh Dubey 4/66). At Stumps, Day II