MATCH REPORT
Follow UsWest seemed dead and buried at the end of Day 3, but a target of 298 runs seemed gettable when skipper Priyank Panchal donned his stoic avatar to deflate the South Zone bowling attack with absolute ease with an unbeaten 92 on Day 4, as West found themselves at 182/5.
Despite not having any support from Cheteshwar Pujara, Prithvi Shaw, and Suryakumar Yadav – the trio added a combined total of 26 runs – Panchal was at the thick of the things, with Sarfaraz Khan for company.
The Mumbai batter, who has failed in three innings preceding the one on Saturday, ensured that he attacked from the other end while allowing Panchal to play within himself. Washington Sundar and R Sai Kishore were the major casualties of Sarfaraz’s incredible spin-hitting, but the game stayed in balance with Vyshak Vijaykumar and Vidwath Kaverappa cramping the run-flow.
Starting Day 4 at 181/7, holding a significant lead of 248 runs, South Zone added 49 more runs, with Sai Kishore and Vyshak Vijaykumar scoring 16 and 23 runs, respectively. Dharmendrasinh Jadeja was the pick of the bowlers, with three wickets to his name.
Even though West need just 116 more runs to win this, South are very much in control of the game, with no recognizable batter left to partner Panchal.
