North vs East Live: North Zone aim to build after recovering from early wobble

Shami, who worked tirelessly without reward for much of the day, finally broke through by dismissing Lotra for 19.

Rain curtailed play, leaving Wadhawan unbeaten on 42 and Mayank Dagar not out on a fluent 28 off 22 balls.

North Zone will aim to build on their total when play resumes on day two.

Nishant Sindhu impressed with a 70-ball 47, striking four fours and two sixes, before falling to Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal.

Later, Kanhaiya Wadhawan and Sahil Lotra adopted a patient approach, keeping the innings steady with watchful batting against a disciplined East Zone attack.

Despite the early losses, Badoni stitched two vital partnerships — 67 runs with Dhull and 61 with Nishant Sindhu — to take North past the 300-run mark.

His aggressive intent against Manishi and Mukhtar Hussain helped shift momentum, though he eventually edged behind to wicketkeeper Kumar Kushagra.

East Zone, after electing to bowl, saw little help for fast bowlers Mohammed Shami and Mukesh Kumar.

It was left-arm spinner Manishi who made the breakthrough, trapping Ankit Kumar lbw before also dismissing Shubham Khajuria and Yash Dhull. His spell of 3-63 ensured North Zone could not dominate early.

Ayush Badoni struck a brisk half-century to steer North Zone to 308/6 in 75.2 overs on the opening day of the Duleep Trophy quarterfinal at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence on Thursday.

His 60-run knock off 60 balls, filled with seven boundaries, played a crucial role in stabilising the innings after a shaky morning against East Zone’s spinners.