Kaif, Raina steady Central

After a poor start, the experienced duo of skipper Mohammad Kaif and Suresh Raina came together to stage a recovery for Central Zone, who were 150 for 3 after Day One of their Duleep Trophy match against East Zone, at the Gandhi Ground here.

After a poor start, the experienced duo of skipper Mohammad Kaif and Suresh Raina came together to stage a recovery for Central Zone, who were 150 for 3 after Day One of their Duleep Trophy match against East Zone, at the Gandhi Ground here.

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It was a perfect start for East who won the toss and put Central in. They had the openers back in the pavilion without a run on the board.

The crisis deepened when the experienced Sanjay Bangar (1) too fell cheaply and the scoreboard read 9 for 3.

Kaif and Raina dug in and averted further damage but their efforts were hampered by poor weather.

Exhibiting a good range of shots, the two saw off the dangerous pair of Ranadeb Bose and Ashok Dinda, who

extracted a lot of purchase from the wicket in overcast conditions. Kaif’s unbeaten 65 contained 12 hits to the fence whereas Raina, who scored a brisk 83 off 96 deliveries, hit a six in addition to 15 boundaries.

It was a dismal Tuesday in Amritsar, which has been under thick fog for the past few days. Poor visibility caused a prolonged delay and the match started at 1:30 pm only to be stopped at 2:40 pm. Proceedings resumed 40 minutes later and continued till 4:50 pm when light intervened again.