East Zone stormed into the Duleep Trophy semi-finals after decimating North East Zone by an innings and 210 runs, while West Zone moved closer to the last four after a late fightback from North Zone on the third day of their quarterfinals on Tuesday.
The East Zone match ended inside two and a half days, with North East bowled out for 146 in their second innings after being forced to follow on. East had earlier posted 467, while North East were dismissed for just 111 in their first innings.
Left-arm spinner Anukul Roy was the star of the show for East, finishing with figures of 15-4-37-5. The India A spinner kept the North East batters guessing, with some deliveries turning away and others staying on the stumps. It was his seventh five-wicket haul in first-class cricket.
Starting the day at 7 for no loss, North East lost wickets at regular intervals. Pheiroijam Jotin Singh (39) and Akash Choudhary (27) put on 39 runs for the ninth wicket to keep their side from being bowled out for less than 100.
East captain Ishan Kishan also had a fine day behind the stumps, completing five dismissals, including two stumpings and three catches. With the match firmly in East’s control, Kishan gave 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi a chance to bowl. The youngster responded by picking up two wickets.
The match ended when Jotin tried to attack Anukul but was comfortably stumped by Kishan. Shahbaz Ahmed was named Player of the Match after an impressive all-round performance that included 167 runs and four wickets.
In the other quarterfinal, West Zone were left needing 67 runs with three wickets in hand after North Zone fought back following half-centuries from Musheer Khan and Ruturaj Gaikwad.
Chasing 287 for victory, West were 195 for three and in control when captain Gaikwad was run out for 66 off 70 balls. North then struck again by dismissing Musheer for 96 off 126 balls.
Musheer missed out on a century by four runs. He hit eight fours and two sixes, while Gaikwad struck seven boundaries. The pair added 111 runs for the fourth wicket and put West in a strong position.
At stumps, West were 220 for seven, with Urvil Patel unbeaten on 17 and 67 more runs needed for victory.
Earlier, North Zone were bowled out for 222 in their second innings, setting West a target of 287 after securing a 64-run first-innings lead. Ayush Badoni (50) and Nishant Sindhu (44) were the main contributors, while Tanush Kotian and Shams Mulani took four wickets each for West.
North had earlier made 251 in their first innings, with Anshul Kamboj’s counter-attacking 60 and Badoni’s 51 providing the bulk of their runs. West were then bowled out for 187, with J&K left-arm spinner Abid Mushtaq taking five wickets for 39 runs.
Brief Scores: East Zone 467; North East Zone 111 & 146 in 50 overs (P Jotin Singh 39; Anukul Roy 5/37).
Brief Scores: North Zone 251 & 222 (Ayush Badoni 50, Nishant Sindhu 44; Shams Mulani 4/78, Tanush Kotian 4/46) vs West Zone 187 & 220/7 in 51 overs (Musheer Khan 96, Ruturaj Gaikwad 66).
– Ends
