Bengaluru: The toughness of the Central Area group lay in flashes of individual batting brilliance on the penultimate day of their Duleep Trophy semifinal versus West Area here on Saturday. At the BCCI Centre of Quality, most of the Central batters looked settled sufficient to pass by the three-figure mark, yet none managed to cross it. Still, their cumulative initiative was enough to place West on the back foot and safeguard the first-innings honours. Responding to West’s 438, Central reached 556/ 8 in 157 overs with an important 118 -run lead. Shardul Thakur and his men will now need something phenomenal on a peaceful surface area to stop Central’s march into the final. Returning to from their overnight score of 229/ 2, Shubham Sharma (96; 241 b; 11 x 4 and captain < a href =" https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/rajat-patidar" styleobj=" [object Object] course="" commonstate=" [object Object] frmappuse=" 1 > Rajat Patidar ( 77; 84 b; 14 x 4 got down to company quickly. Patidar, needing 3 go to finish his half-century, brought it up by sending off Thakur with covers for a border. His form continued as he struck four boundaries in a solitary Tanush Kotian over. Sharma, at the same time, played the constant hand as the pair included 55 runs in the initial 10 overs of the morning. Yet the 127- run collaboration ended when Patidar shed his stumps attempting a move versus Dharmendrasinh Jadeja (4/101 Central endured an additional strike when Yash Rathod dropped cheaply to Jadeja, with Ruturaj Gaikwad taking a sharp catch at first slip. Sharma, who had slowed down after Patidar’s dismissal, was run out on 96 while trying a quick solitary, reversed by a direct hit from Kotian. The center and lower order kept the momentum going. < a href =" https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/upendra-yadav" styleobj=" [object Object] class="" commonstate=" [object Object] frmappuse=" 1 > Upendra Yadav ( 87; 181 b; 8 x 4, 2 x 6, Harsh Dubey( 75; 93 b; 13 x 4 and Deepak Chahar( 33 aggravated West, whose bowlers worked without much benefit in spite of utilizing eight different choices. A brief rainfall disturbance postponed play, yet Central completed securely in control. South stay in the race The other semifinal in between South and North had a lot of dramatization on Day 3 Responding to South’s enforcing first-innings total of 536, North stumbled early as Gurjapneet Singh( 3/ 67 gotten rid of captain Ankit Kumar and the in-form Yash Dhull within the very first hour. Ayush Badoni (40 given some stability before Shubham Khajuria (128 not out; 245 b; 20 x 4, 1 x 6 and Nishant Sindhu (82; 148 b; 9 x 4, 1 x 6 took cost. Both put on an outstanding 171 -run represent the 4th gate, dominating the South assault for much of the day. However, South clawed back late in the evening. Sindhu’s uppercut off Gurjapneet was caught in the deep by alternative Shaik Rasheed, and Kanhaiya Wadhawan was gone out without scoring right after. At stumps, North were 278/ 5 in 79 overs, still routing by 258 runs, leaving the competition delicately poised heading right into the last day. Quick ratings: West Area: 438 vs Central Area (O/n: 229/ 2 556/ 8 in 157 overs (Ayush Pandey 40, Danish Malewar 76, Shubham Sharma 96, Rajat Patidar 77, Upendra Yadav 87, Harsh Dubey 75, Saransh Jain 37 *, Deepak Chahar 33; Dharmendrasinh Jadeja 4 -101 South Area: 536 vs North Area 278/ 5 in 79 overs (Shubham Khajuria 128 *, Ayush Badoni 40, Nishant Sindhu 82; Gurjapneet Singh 3 -67