Naman Ojha in the Zone

While Saxena’s ton, his eight in first class cricket, laid a solid foundation for the team, it was Ojha’s hundred that put Central in the driver’s seat.

Ojha, the in-form Madhya Pradesh batsman, continued his excellent batting in the domestic season opener. The Madhya Pradesh wicketkeeper-batsman had enjoyed phenomenal success in last season’s Ranji Trophy, accumulating 835 runs in seven games to come up with his best effort in over a decade of domestic cricket. His performance caught the eye of the selectors and the 31-year-old was called to the India A side for the tour to Australia. There, Ojha came up with a series of eye-catching performances, scoring three centuries on the trot, including a double century, to return with 430 runs in three innings.

It fetched him a national call-up and Ojha was sent to England as a replacement for injured reserve wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha. He didn’t get a chance in England but that didn’t dampen his spirits, as he picked up from where he had left off last season.

Missed chances

Against North, his innings was studded with deft glances to the leg and sublime timing, forcing North skipper Gautam Gambhir to look back on the missed chances that could have put the opposition on the backfoot. If North could be pulled up for taking their opponents lightly, their fielders made the task even more difficult by spilling some easy catches. The beneficiaries were Saxena, who was dropped on 75 by North keeper Nitin Saini, and Ojha, who was dropped twice when he was on 14 and then against on 27. The culprits in his case were Parvinder Awana, who dropped a sitter at mid on, while Saini was erratic behind the stumps.

Both these batsmen went on to complete their centuries.

Saxena stole a cheeky single off Yuzvendra Chalal to reach his century off 151 deliveries. More than the century, it was the manner in which he batted after the team lost two wickets for 97 runs that deserved applause. He and Ojha not only wrestled back the initiative from the Northern bowlers but also put a solid platform for the team to build on.

After forging a century partnership for the third wicket, just when Central were cruising along nicely, medium pacer Rishi Dhawan provided the breakthrough, dismissing Saxena for 110 (17 fours). Saini made amendments for his earlier mistakes and took an easy catch behind the stumps. Saxena’s dismissal did not end North’s woes as Ojha sent them on a leather hunt, reaching his 17th first class century with a four off Chahal.

Saxena’s dismissal brought Menaria to the crease who shared a century stand with Ojha, putting the team in firm footing. North came close to picking up Menaria’s wicket towards the fag end of the day’s play. Yuvraj, who came on to roll his arm over, almost met with instant success, but Jiwanjot failed to hold on to a difficult chance offered by Menaria. With Ojha unbeaten on 122 and Menaria on 53, the Central batsmen will look to boost the total and shut North out in the semi-final.

For North, the lone bright spot was Dhawan, who hit the deck hard and extracted some bounce and pace to test the opposition batsmen. He was unlucky as both Saxena and Ojha were dropped off his bowling immediately after lunch.

Brief scores: Central Zone 344/3 in 90 overs (Naman Ojha 122 n.o., Jajaj Saxena 110, Ashok Menaria 53 n.o., Rishi Dhawan 2/93) vs North Zone.