Baroda's left handed opener Cecil Williams hit an unbeaten 105 as West Zone ran up a good score of 254 for two from 91 overs at close of play on the first day of their Duleep Trophy semifinal against East Zone at Calcutta on Thursday.

Winning the toss, West Zone were given an excellent start with openers Williams and Wasim Jaffer (69) putting on 156 runs from 47.5 overs. Jaffer faced 163 balls and hit 12 fours. The momentum was maintained with Williams and AV Kale (24) adding 41 runs in 19 overs for the second wicket. Skipper Amol Mujumdar and Williams then completed a fruitful day for West Zone by increasing the score by 57 runs during an unbroken third wicket association which lasted 24.1 overs. The 26-year-old Williams by close had faced 261 balls hitting 14 fours and a six. Mujumdar has faced 71 balls hitting three of them to the ropes. For East Zone opening bowler J Zaman and skipper U Chatterjee shared the wickets.

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