Madhya Pradesh's Raja Ali kept Central Zone's slim hopes of qualifying for the Duleep Trophy final alive with a gallant unbeaten century on the penultimate day of their semifinal against North Zone at Guwahati on Sunday. The 23-year-old right hander saw the holders reach 328 for seven at the end of the fourth day of the match. But Central who still need another 216 runs to overhaul North Zone's first innings total of 543, face an uphill task.

Central resumed at 149 for three and suffered a major blow when opener Jyoti Yadav, after batting 383 minutes was caught by Dharmani off Sodhi for 70. During his patient knock, Yadav had faced 243 balls and hit six fours. The fourth wicket stand between Yadav and Ali had realized 74 runs off 32 overs.

Skipper Gyanendra Pandey did not last long, being caught by Sodhi off Chopra for two. A little later, S Shukla was out for seven and Central were in dire straits at 199 for six. However M Saif and Ali then came together for a seventh wicket partnership that revived Central's faint hopes. The two put on 91 runs off 34.3 overs before Saif was leg before to Mongia for 35. He batted 2-1/2 hours, faced 105 balls and hit five fours. PV Gandhe joined Ali who had in the meantime passed the three figure mark. But having scoring three off 17 balls, Gandhe retired hurt. Ashish Winston Zaidi (12) however stayed with Ali till stumps. Ali has so far faced 283 balls for his 122 and has hit 16 fours and a six.

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