MATCH REPORT
Follow UsThe gulf between the two sides - Central Zone and East Zone - became evident as a strong Central Zone side trashed their counterparts by 170 runs in the first Quarter-final at the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) Cricket Ground in Alur. While rain played a part early on in the fixture, the influence of spinners became evident in the last two days of the contest.
India ‘A’ regular Saurabh Kumar, who already picked up four wickets by the end of the third day’s play, was influential in knocking the remainder of the wickets, with the left-arm spinner ending with figures of 8/33 in the second innings. Riyan Parag was the first to be dismissed on the day when he was trapped right in front of the wickets by the left-arm spinner.
Saurabh didn’t end his tally there, picking up fellow left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem as well. Akash Deep entertained the crowd with some stunning hits - scoring three sixes - but eventually was undone by the brilliance of the Uttar Pradesh spinner. Ishan Porel just lased one delivery as Central Zone put on a show in the first Quarter-final of the 2023 Duleep Trophy
The Uttar Pradesh spinner finished the match with figures of 11/79, with Avesh Khan picking up four wickets across the two innings. On the other hand, apart from Parag across both innings, none of the other East Zone batters gave a fight in their crushing defeat. Also, India probable Abhimanyu Easwaran suffered a massive blow to his chances of returning to the national setup with twin failures.
A thumping 511 runs win for North Zone
Like it was at Alur, the rest of the match here at the Chinnaswamy Stadium was a mere formality, with the gulf between the two teams. North Zone, after posting a gigantic target just kept chipping away at the North East Zone batters to post a commendable 511-run win in Bangalore.
Starting the day at 58/3, it took North Zone bowlers nearly 20 overs to strike first, when CSK player Nishant Sandhu got Nilesh Lamichaney out. Pulkit Narang then dismissed the other settled batter, Palzor Tamang who departed after scoring 40. While Rongsen Jonathan and L Kishan Singha put up a fight, Pulkit stole the show, finishing with figures of 4/43 in the second innings.
The stand-out performers for North Zone were Nishant Sandhu and Dhruv Shorey, with the CSK all-rounder scoring a 150 in the first innings before picking up 2/25 in the second dig. Shorey continued his dazzling run in domestic cricket with yet another century, a 135 that helped them post a gigantic first-innings total of 540.
