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Duleep Trophy: Tilak Varma's Ton Puts South Zone In Ascendancy Against North On Day 2

Duleep Trophy: South Zone captain Tilak Varma smashed an unbeaten century, while Shreyas Gopal made a strong 88, as the team ended Day 2 of their Duleep Trophy semifinal against North Zone in the ascendancy at the BCCI Centre of Excellence Ground 2 here. Tilak, India's T20I vice-captain, went to stumps unbeaten on 106 off 225 balls, with a composed innings and an innings-saving 175-run partnership with Gopal, which helped South close the day at 285/9, having a 90-run lead in response to North's 195. Tilak came to bat with South in a precarious position at 39/2 after they lost Ricky Bhui (5) and Shaik Rasheed (0). He anchored the innings, but Narayan Jagadeesan and Smaran Ravichandran were also dismissed as Gurnoor Brar ran through the South batting attack in the first session. South were reeling at 80/5 before a strong resistance came from Tilak and Gopal. The two put up 175 runs for the sixth wicket, frustrated the North bowlers, tired them out, and took South to the lead. Gopal, however, missed his century when he was dismissed by Arshdeep Singh for 99 in an innings packed with 11 fours. This triggered a collapse as Anshul Kamboj and Arshdeep each got one, while MD Nidheesh was run out at the fag end of the day, with Tilak holding the fort. Tilak smashed his eighth first-class century and is now looking to put the pedal to the metal as he stays with Kavuri Saiteja in the middle. South are in ascendancy now with 285/9 on the board and a lead of 90 runs. Gopal, however, missed his century when he was dismissed by Arshdeep Singh for 99 in an innings packed with 11 fours. This triggered a collapse as Anshul Kamboj and Arshdeep each got one, while MD Nidheesh was run out at the fag end of the day, with Tilak holding the fort. Also Read: Special Cricket Stories Brief scores: South Zone 285/9 in 94 overs (Tilak Varma 106*, Shreyas Gopal 88; Gurnoor Brar 4-70, Anshul Kamboj 2-53) lead North Zone 195 in 59.1 overs (Qamran Iqbal 76, Kanhaiya Wadhawan 35; Vidhwath Kaverappa 4-66, Tanay Thyagarajan 2-31) by 90 runs Article Source: IANS