Hyderabad, Oct 16: The second semi-final of the Airtel Duleep Trophy is tantalizingly poised after Bhuvneshwar Kumar's maiden century rescued Central Zone from a precarious position to put them within striking distance of a crucial first innings lead. At the end of the third day's play, Central Zone were placed at 442 for nine, just nine runs behind North Zone's 451. Central Zone, who resumed the third day at 146 for five, showed early signs of putting up a fight with captain Mohammad Kaif and Mahesh Rawat building on their overnight partnership. Both players played well within their limitations and survived testing spells from Amit Mishra, Rishi Dhawan and Parvinder Awana. Just when it looked like they were going to put up a fight, Kaif was beaten in the air by a Mishra googly and lost his middle stump. The Central Zone skipper made 63 - his 50th half-century in first-class cricket. The sixth wicket pair added 102 runs. Rawat too would depart shortly after for a well-compiled 71. Bhuvneshwar Kumar appeared solid from the word go. Though he would lose the company of Murali Kartik and Praveen Kumar - after they had made useful contributions of 27 and 22 respectively - he would maintain his poise and steer the team forward. When last man Rituraj Singh joined him in the middle, Central Zone were 110 runs away from the first innings lead. The Uttar Pradesh all-rounder played a calculated game, initially farming the strike by taking singles off the fourth and fifth balls of the over, but showed more faith in his partner as the partnership blossomed. In between, he played some superb strokes too; the 21-year-old wasn't afraid to take the aerial route and hit three sixes in his 263-minute knock. When stumps were drawn, the last wicket pair had added 100 runs; Bhuvneshwar Kumar would remain unbeaten on 120, while Rituraj Singh had batted 101 minutes for his 21.

Amit Mishra was the best of the North Zone bowlers; though the leg-spinner was guilty of bowling several No Balls – fifteen to be precise – he would return with four wickets. Rishi Dhawan and Awana were impressive among the pacers – both players got the ball to swing conventionally early on and then made good use of reverse swing with the old ball.

Brief Scores:

North Zone 1st Innings: 451 in 119.2 overs (Yuvraj Singh 208, Shikhar Dhawan 121, Praveen Kumar 4-92, Murali Kartik 4-120)

Central Zone 1st Innings: 442-9 in 145.0 overs (Bhuvneshwar Kumar 120*, Mahesh Rawat 71, Mohammad Kaif 63, Amit Mishra 4-151)