Duleep Trophy: Shahbaz Ahmed, Anukul Roy star as East Zone cruise into semis; North Zone seize late advantage

East Zone vs North East Zone: EZ win by an innings and 210 runs

North East Zone were swept away by Anukul Roy’s five-for, succumbing to an innings defeat against East Zone in the Duleep Trophy quarter-final.

Resuming their innings on 7/0, and 349 runs behind, North East Zone did marginally better in the second innings, but still could not cross 150. Pheiroijam Jotin provided some late resistance from No.7, top-scoring with 39 off 75, getting support from No.10 Akash Choudhary, who batted 50 balls for his 27. It helped them stretch the innings slightly, having been reduced to 90/8 by the 35th over.

Anukul Roy kept chipping away at them, ending with a five-wicket haul, as East Zone’s trio of left-arm spinners shared eight wickets between them. Shahbaz Ahmed continued his dream game with the scalp of opener Joseph Lalthankhuma, and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi also helped himself to a couple of wickets, picking up Kishan Lyngdoh and Imliwati Lemtur in the same over.

Captain Ishan Kishan had a busy time behind the sticks, taking four catches and effecting a stumping.

It was Anukul’s seventh five-wicket haul in first-class cricket, but Shahbaz took home the Player of the Match award for his career-best 167 and four wickets in the match.

Brief scores: East Zone 467 beat North East Zone 111 & 146 (Pheiroijam Jotin 39, Akash Choudhary 27; Anukul Roy 5-37, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi 2-11) by an innings and 210 runs.

North Zone vs West Zone

The last 33 minutes of the evening provided a late twist, as North Zone came from behind to end Day 3 on a high, rattling West Zone’s chase with four crucial wickets. It leaves West Zone requiring 67 runs with three wickets in hand.

Musheer Khan narrowly missed out on a century, but his partnership with Ruturaj Gaikwad put West Zone in cruise control halfway through the third session. The two had forged a 111-run stand when a sudden urge for a quick single saw Gaikwad being run out for the first time in first-class cricket. Until then, he had looked comfortable on a wicket with plenty of turn, reaching his fifty in less than run-a-ball, and looking set to lead them home alongside Musheer.

The run-out turned the script around: less than three overs after Gaikwad’s dismissal, Musheer fell trying a sweep with one hand off his blade, getting a nick off the toe-end. The ball was kicking and turning appreciably, and West Zone lost two more wickets, relinquishing the advantage they had built with the Musheer-Gaikwad pairing. On his part, Musheer picked his slots and attacked quicks on the leg-side, hitting a couple of sixes as a counter-attacking mechanism. Against spin, he used his feet and swept like he usually does, but that particular shot also brought his end.

Urvil Patel is still at the crease, and West Zone have the benefit of Shardul Thakur and Tanush Kotian coming in to bat next. Tushar Deshpande, too, can be handy. But the manner in which Abid Mushtaq, wicketless until then, drew turn and sent back Shams Mulani and Mukesh Choudhary, West Zone will come out under pressure on the final morning.

Earlier in the day, North Zone’s Ayush Badoni hit a fifty, and Nishant Sindhu contributed with 44 from No.7, as they navigated through a tough passage to post 222 in their second innings. They began the day on 107/4, and were reduced to 158/7, but three sixes from Anshul Kamboj helped them get over 200. Mulani and Kotian, using the grip and bite of the pitch, shared eight wickets between them.

Brief scores: North Zone 251 & 222 (Ayush Badoni 50, Nishant Sindhu 44; Tanush Kotian 4-48, Shams Mulani 4-78) lead by 67 runs with three wickets needed vs West Zone 187 & 220/7 (Musheer Khan 96, Ruturaj Gaikwad 66; Abid Mushtaq 2-56, Sunil Kumar 1-23)