Jammu and Kashmir’s left-arm spin all-rounder Abid Mushtaq took nine wickets as North Zone defeated Ruturaj Gaikwad-led West Zone by 52 runs in the Duleep Trophy quarter-finals to reach the semi-finals.
Spin bowlers dominated the red clay pitch and spinners took 25 wickets in the entire match. Abid Mushtaq played an important role in North Zone’s victory by taking a total of 9 wickets in both the innings. On the last day, West Zone needed 67 runs and North Zone needed three wickets to win. Mushtaq and Nishant Sindhu wrapped up West Zone’s innings in just 6.3 overs.
On the fourth day, Mushtaq shocked West Zone after the century partnership of Musheer Khan and Ruturaj Gaikwad. On the last day, he started by bowling Tanush Kotian. After this, Tushar Deshpande was caught in the slip by Abdul Samad. Three balls later, Nishant Sindhu ended West Zone’s innings by trapping Urvil Patel LBW for 25 runs.
Arshdeep Singh also performed brilliantly from North Zone and took four wickets. Whereas Anshul Kamboj, after scoring 60 runs in the first innings, also made an impact with the ball and took the wickets of Shams Mulani and Kotian.
North Zone had scored 251 runs in the first innings and 222 runs in the second innings. In response, West Zone team could score only 187 and 234 runs. North Zone will face South Zone under the captaincy of Tilak Verma in the semi-finals. The second semi-final will be between East Zone and defending champions Central Zone. Both the matches will be played at the Center of Excellence in Bengaluru from 30th August.