Yuvraj Singh ton puts North Zone in firm control

Perhaps bidding for another reckoning at the national level, Yuvraj Singh hit an unbeaten 163 on the second day of North Zone's Duleep Trophy match against South Zone, giving his side firm control of the game at Faridabad.

Resuming from their score of 96/1, North Zone just proceeded to bat their opponents out of the game. Vikram Rathour and Yuvraj Singh put on 163 runs for the second wicket, making them at a fair clip. Both, in the process, scored centuries.

Rathour was the first to fall, giving Sridharan Sriram his wicket and departing for 104 off 195 balls. His innings featured 18 fours, but more importantly, it took North past the South Zone first-innings total - a decisive advantage.

Yuvraj batted on unflappably, posting 110 runs for the third wicket with skipper Mithun Manhas. Manhas hit 44 off 107 balls, with eight fours, and his knock was significant for the support it offered a belligerent Yuvraj at the other end.

When Manhas fell with the score on 341, Shafiq Khan took his place - both at the crease and in his role. Giving good support to Yuvraj, Shafiq made an unbeaten 27 off 57 balls, with four fours.

Yuvraj, however, was the undoubted star of the day. Hitting his 163 off just 282 balls, he hit 23 fours and three massive sixes in his innings, truly destroying the South Zone bowling attack. S Suresh Kumar, Sriram and RV Prasad picked one wicket each, but they could not make further impact on the match.

North Zone reached 387/3 at the close of the second day's play, a lead of 219 runs already. With two days play remaining in the match, South Zone are staring down the barrel, and its batsmen must be ruing their failures in the first innings.