Sourav Ganguly on way to his century in Guwahati on Monday. A Telegraph picture

Guwahati: It is often said that there is God and then there is Sourav Ganguly on the offside. This was more than felt and observed on the penultimate day of the Duleep Trophy tie between North and East Zone at the Nehru Stadium here Monday.

East Zone, crippled by the loss of two early wickets Sunday, staged a magnificent recovery to reach 215 for four at close. Sourav led from the front with an unbeaten 118 off 239 balls with 12 fours and three sixes. North Zone made a formidable 504 in the first innings.

After taking a cheeky single to complete what appeared to be the much-awaited century of the Duleep Trophy, a relieved Ganguly looked skywards as if to thank God for answering his prayers. Incidentally, he had visited the Kamakhya temple on the eve of the match.

But it would be wrong to attribute East’s recovery and Sourav finding his touch to divine intervention. It was more a reward for the former India captain’s hard work and application.

Tuesday will be a big day, the team taking the lead will qualify for the final at Eden Gardens. East and Sourav know that the battle is not yet over. “We are not looking at 504. We are looking at session by session and aiming to build partnerships. Hope the good work will continue tomorrow,” East’s coach Paras Mhambrey said.

It was near-vintage stuff so far from Sourav — the flowing cover drives, three straight sixes and the teasing pushes. He was ably supported by Abhishek Jhunjunwala (32) and Laxmi Ratan Shukla (15) but both threw it all away for some inexplicable reasons.

However, Deep Dasgupta is playing the perfect foil with a patient 22 off 93 balls. Former international Ashish Nehra, who bowled 12 overs on the trot at full steam, took one of the two wickets to fall. The other went to off-spinner Rajesh Sharma. The century has not only brought Sourav back into the reckoning but also allowed East to fight another day.

True there is no devil in the pitch, but it is equally true that the eventful innings has come under very trying circumstances for Sourav — his own poor form, a huge North total, the disastrous start by East, the threat of his losing the BCCI central contracts, not to mention the security jitters following Sunday’s blast that rocked the city last evening.

Besides striking himself to form, he also guided his team.

The innings would not have materialised had the Assam Cricket Association (ACA) not got into the act. The ACA and the administration worked throughout the night to ensure that the game was on. The players took the field after the city police gave an anti-sabotage check certificate after thoroughly checking the ground to the satisfaction of the team and match officials. A minute’s silence was observed in memory of the blast victims before the start, 45 minutes behind schedule.

ACA letter

Meanwhile, the ACA has written to the BCCI drawing its attention to the inclusion of a player in the East Zone squad without the knowledge of all the selectors of the zone, including national selector Ranjib Biswal. Shiv Sagar Singh was included in place of the injured Ranadeb Bose.