Mohammad Kaif and Naman Ojha hit an unbeaten half-centuries each and put on 114 runs in their unfinished fourth wicket partnership to rescue Central Zone from a disastrous start on the second day of the Duleep Trophy quarterfinal match against East Zone at Barabati Stadium here today.

In reply to East Zone’s healthy first innings total of 427, Central Zone were in dire straight, losing openers Mohnish Mishra and Akash Chopra with only four runs on the board. They suffered another setback when skipper Hrishikesh Kanitkar was caught by Natraj Behera off Iresh Saxena for 29.

But belligerent batting by a plucky Kaif and a lucky Ojha enabled Central Zone cruise to 169 for three at the close of second day of the four-day match. When stumps were draw for the day, experienced Kaif was going strong at 78 (186 balls, 12x4) and stumper Ojha was giving him company on 50 (92 balls 2x4, 2x6). Ojha, however, was let off the hook when Ashok Dinda dropped a catch at long-on with the batsman on 27. The bowler to suffer on the occasion was left-arm spinner Iresh Saxena.

Earlier, resuming their first innings at the overnight score of 328 for five, East Zone lost the remaining five wickets, adding 99 runs in the process. Wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha dominated the first session the day’s play, scoring a half-century (69 off 98, 11x4, 1x6). But none of the three Orissa batsmen in the East Zone team could to make a notable contribution.

Meanwhile, the news of dashing batsman Sourav Tiwary getting ruled out of the match came as a shock for East Zone. The Jharkhand batsman, who suffered a shoulder injury while trying to survive a run out threat, has been advised rest for three weeks.

SCORE BOARD

EAST ZONE: Natraj Behera c Chopra b P Singh 12, S Goswami c Yadav b Kartik 37, I Jaggi c Kaif b P Singh 118, M Tiwary lbw P Singh 109, S Tiwary (run out) 19, W Saha (run out) 69, Alok Sahoo c Bundela b Yadav 18, Niranjan Behera c Ojha b P Singh 1, A Dinda c Kanitkar b RP Singh 14, I Saxena b Kartik 17, Basant Mohanty (not out) 1.
Extras (b-2, lb-3, nb-5, w-2) 12
Total (all out, 114.3 overs) 427
Fall of wickets: 1-29, 2-78, 3-286, 4-291, 5-320, 6-351, 7-354, 8-382, 9-417, 10-427
Bowling: R P Singh 26-5-93-1, Pankaj Singh 34-5-126-4, Umesh Yadav 23-6-72-1, Murali Kartik 20.3-3-92-2, Devendra Bundela 9-3-18-0, Ashok Menaria 1-0-16-0, Hrishikesh Kanitkar 1-0-5-0.

CENTRAL ZONE: A Chopra c Saha b Dinda 3, M Mishra c Saha b Mohanty 0, H Kanitkar c Natraj b Saxena 29, M Kaif (batting) 78, N Ojha (batting) 50.
Extras (lb-7, nb-2) 9
Total (3 wkts, 63 overs) 169
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-4, 3-55
Bowling: Ashok Dinda 17-5-49-1, Basant Mohanty 17-5-33-1, Alok Sahoo 13-2-23-0, Iresh Saxena 14-1-48-1, Manoj Tiwary 2-0-9-0.