NEWS
OTHER SPORTS
DIARY
PEOPLE
MATCH REPORTS
SLIDE SHOW
ARCHIVES

Dharmani, Sehwag steady North

Riding on two half centuries by Virender Sehwag (66) and Pankaj Dharmani (59), North Zone recovered to score a modest 229 for four against South Zone in their first innings on the opening day of the Duleep Trophy five-day match at the Maharaja Bir Bikram stadium in Agartala today.

North won the toss and decided to bat. They lost both openers - Vikram Rathore (12) and Ashu Dani (21) - soon, when the team's score was 43. Then Reetinder Singh Sodhi (22) was trapped lbw with the team score reading 90.

Pankaj Dharmani, Rajiv Nayar and Virender Sehwag then displayed fighting qualities to help North reach 229 for the loss of four wickets in 94 overs at the end of the day.

Pankaj Dharmani scored a splendid 59, studded with nine boundaries off 163 balls, while Rajiv Nayar scored 40 off 180 balls which included three fours.

North's right hand batsman Virender Sehwag was unbeaten on 66, studded with nine boundaries and one six. He faced 86 balls in his 109 minute stay at the crease.

The South Zone players dropped six catches.