Bengaluru: In the Duleep Trophy, North Zone defeated West Zone by 52 runs to reach the semi-finals. On the fourth morning, left-arm spinners Abid Mushtaq and Nishant Sindhu dismantled West Zone's lower order in just 6.3 overs. Now North Zone will face South Zone in the semi-finals.
West Zone was all out for 234 against the target of 287 runs.
Chasing the target of 287 runs on a turning pitch, West Zone finished at 220 runs for seven wickets on the fourth day. The team's hopes were on Urvil Patel and Tanush Kotian, but its entire innings ended at 234 runs.
Mushtaq bowled brilliantly and first dismissed Tanush Kotian and then sent Tushar Deshpande to the pavilion. After this, Nishant Sindhu sealed the victory of North Zone by taking the wicket of Urvil Patel.
Mushtaq took 9 wickets in the match
Abid Mushtaq's role was most important in the victory of North Zone. He took four wickets for seven runs in 22 overs in the second innings. In the entire match, Mushtaq took a total of nine wickets for 99 runs and was adjudged Player of the Match.
Ruturaj Gaikwad's run out became the turning point
The turning point of the match was considered to be the run out of West Zone captain Ruturaj Gaikwad. Gaikwad played an inning of 66 runs in 70 balls and made a partnership of 111 runs with Musheer Khan.
West Zone's score at that time was 195 runs for three wickets and the team looked to be in a strong position. But after this, in less than seven overs, the team lost four wickets including Gaikwad and Musheer for just 25 runs. After this, North Zone completely tightened its grip on the match.
North Zone had scored 251 runs in the first innings
In the match, North Zone had scored 251 runs in the first innings. In response, the West Zone team was all out for 187 runs. North Zone scored 222 runs in their second innings and set a target of 287 runs for West Zone.
Semi-finals will be held from 30th August
The semi-final matches of Duleep Trophy will be played from August 30. North Zone will face South Zone in the first semi-final, while East Zone and Central Zone will face each other in the second semi-final.
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