East Zone got off to a fine start, making 328 for five on the opening day of the Duleep Trophy quarterfinal match against Central Zone at Barabati Stadium in Cuttack today. Ishank Jaggi and skipper Manoj Tiwary stole the show of the day, hitting a century each and compiling 208 runs in their third wicket partnership.

Central Zone, however, fought back in the last session of play, scalping three wickets for 34 runs. Burly medium-pacer Pankaj Singh stood out among Central bowlers, bagging three wickets for 87 runs. When stumps were drawn for the day, stumper Wriddhiman Saha and night watchman Alok Sahoo were batting on 18 and four respectively.

Put into bat by Central skipper Hrishikesh Kanitkar, East Zone lost their first wicket early as opener Natraj Behera fell to Pankaj Singh, edging a catch to Akash Chopra. Other opener Shreevats Goswami (37) got a good start but failed to convert it into a big knock.

But the formidable partnership between Jaggi and Tiwari guided East to a position of strength. Showing impressive application and grace, Jaggi scored 118 (221 balls, 17x4, 1x6) before being caught at slip by Mohammad Kaif off Pankaj Singh. It was Jaggi\`s fourth century in 15 first class matches and in the process the Jharkhand batsman completed his 1,000 run.

Skipper Tiwary led from the front, displaying aggressive stroke play for his stylish knock of 109, which came off 160 balls and included 15 boundaries and one six. It was Tiwary\`s 13th first class hundred in 50 matches and he was trapped in front of the wicket by Pankaj Singh.

East Zone lost Sourav Tiwary through a debatable run out decision. After a long wait third umpire ruled him out even as video reply made it clear that wicketkeeper Naman Ojha broke the wicket without the ball in his hand. Unlucky Tiwary also injured his left shoulder in the process while diving for the crease. He was later taken to hospital for treatment.

SCOREBOARD

EAST ZONE: Natraj Behera c Chopra b P Singh 12, S Goswami c Yadav b Kartik 37, I Jaggi c Kaif b P Singh 118, M Tiwary lbw P Singh 109, S Tiwary (run out) 19, W Saha (batting) 18, Alok Sahoo (batting) 4.
Extras (b-2, lb-3, nb-5, w-1) 11
Total (5 wkts, 90 overs) 328
Fall of wicketes: 1-29, 2-78, 3-286, 4-291, 5-320
Bowling: R P Singh 20-4-70-0, Pankaj Singh 24-5-87-3, Umesh Yadav 17-5-51-0, Murali Kartik 18-3-76-1, Devendra Bundela 9-2-18-0, Ashok Maneria 1-0-16-0, Hrishikesh Kanitkar 1-0-5-0.