Central Zone were struggling on 123 for five in the first innings at stumps in their Duleep Trophy encounter against South Zone at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

Earlier, after Central Zone opted to bat, South Zone pacer Abhimanyu Mithun claimed the top order to leave them reeling on three for 69. He castled Vineet Saxena for naught and bowled Mohammed Kaif eight runs later. Pragyan Ojha followed up with the wicket of Robin Bisht and then Mithun struck to send back Mukul Dagar for 45. Malolan Rangarajan who has been in good form then sent back Naman Ojha to leave Central Zone on 119 for five.

At stumps after a rain-curtailed first day’s play, Central Zone’s Shalabh Shrivastava and Piyush Chawala were not-out on 18 and four respectively.

Brief scores:

At the end of Day 1: Central Zone 1st innings 123/5 in 50.2 overs (M Dagar 45, A Mithun 3/24)