Duleep Trophy: North Zone, Central Zone put one foot in semifinals as they continue their dominance

But the third day of the quarterfinal match was all about the ruthlessness of North Zone in extending their supremacy through Ankit and Dhull who milked 240 runs for the second wicket off just 290 balls.

They did it in their own way. Dhull was all aggression and Ankit went about his task in a more mellowed manner.
After the early dismissal of Shubham Khajuria (21), who was castled by Suraj Jaiswal, East Zone bowlers struggled to make any impact on the North pair.

Senior pacer Mohammed Shami found occasional movement and troubled the batters, but that was all the East bowlers could manage on the day.

Dhull’s off-side play was exceptional as 57 runs came off in the arc between point and cover region, as he went past 50 in 49 balls.

But the 22-year-old had big slice of fortune when Sharandeep Singh dropped him on 48 at covers off left-arm spinner Manishi, and the Delhi batter did not require any second invitation to exploit the reprieve.

Ankit, meanwhile, went past fifty in 74 balls, and soon his younger partner completed his eighth first-class century in 112 balls.

The only time Dhull looked a bit unsettled was in the 90s when Shami, who restricted himself to just 11 overs on the day, troubled him with a slew of quick snorters, but he withered the storm.

Along with Ankit, Dhull, who had a surgery to remove a hole in his heart last year, never gave any respite to the East spinners, often coming down the track to disrupt their rhythm.

Dhull reached his hundred with a single to mid-off, but Ankit fetched the milestone with much more flourish, with a six off Manishi. North went to tea at 290 for one in 64 overs, and added 125 runs in the middle session without losing a wicket.

Ankit’s hundred came in 155 balls and he also received a let off when Utkarsh Singh grassed him at the first slip off Manishi when the batter was on 112.

The situation was so grim for the East as Shami did not turn his arm over in the final session of the day and the injury-enforced absence of pacer Mukesh Kumar too hurt their plans.

Just as the alliance was chugging along nicely, Dhull fell to a rather innocuous delivery from East skipper Riyan Parag.

Dhull walked across to play a clip off the leg but missed the ball to get adjudged leg before.
But Ankit floored the pedal after his hundred as North went on overdrive in the final hour, adding 98 runs.

Brief scores: North Zone 405 & 388/2 (Ankit Kumar 168*, Yash Dhull 133, Suraj Jaiswal 1/37) vs East Zone 230

Centrol dominant

Central Zone too one foot in the Duleep Trophy semi-final with a decisive first innings lead of 347 early during the day but by the end of it, the lead swelled to an unimaginable 678 runs, courtesy Shubham Sharma’s hundred in Bengaluru on Saturday.

Central Zone ended the third day at 331 for 7 in their second innings.

A patient batting effort from from MP Skipper Shubham’s (122, 215 balls) and quick half-centuries by skipper Rajat Patidar (66 off 72 balls) and Yash Rathod (78 off 83 balls) killed the contest as they rendered the final day to a mere formality.

In the morning session, North East started at 168 for 7 while replying to Central Zone’s massive 532/4 and folded for 185 as Deepak Chahar and Khaleel Ahmed polished off the tail in a jiffy. The two India bowlers made up for an ordinary show on the second day.

The Central second innings was about the patience shown by domestic bulwark Shubham, who grounded the North East bowlers with lot of patience allowing a more flamboyant Patidar to be the aggressor.

Patidar looked good for a second hundred as he hit pacer Bishworjit Konthoujam for two sixes and also hammered leg-spinner Ankur Malik for a maximum but was out trying to force the pace.

He and Shubham added 122 for the fourth wicket. The centurion then joined left-handed Rathod to add another 131 runs.

The lead swelled over 550 runs, and the North East bowlers had already given up hopes of a fightback.

On the final day, Central zone would obviously push for a win and all eyes would be on Kuldeep Yadav, who went wicketless in his 20 overs in the first innings.

After being benched for the entire duration of England tour, Kuldeep would like to not only get some match time albeit in red ball format but also a few wickets under his belt before the Asia Cup.

Brief Scores:

Central Zone 532/4 decl and 331/7 in 80.3 overs (Shubham Sharma 122, Akash Choudhary 2/44) vs North East Zone 185 all out in 69.3 overs (Karnajit Yumnam 48, Aditya Thakare 3/23).

(With PTI inputs)