Auqib Nabi picked up four wickets in as many balls © Getty North Zone vs East Zone Auqib Nabi’s all-round efforts put North Zone in a strong position in their quarterfinal clash against East Zone on Day 2 of the Duleep Trophy in Bengaluru. North Zone posted a strong total of 405 despite Manishi’s 6 for 111. Nabi (5-28) then combined with Harshit Rana (2-56) to prevent East Zone’s innings from taking off as they were bowled out for 230 to concede a lead of 175. Starting the day at 308/6, North Zone lost Mayank Dagar early in the day but Nabi led a fine counter-attack, striking 5 fours and 2 sixes in his 33-ball 44 that took the total forward. When he was dismissed, North Zone were 374/8 and they managed to cross 400 thanks to a couple of sixes from Arshdeep Singh and one from Rana. In reply, plenty of the East Zone batters got off to promising starts but only Virat Singh (69) crossed fifty as Rana and Co. bagged regular wickets. Nabi’s incisive spell started with the wicket of Virat and he soon cleaned up the tail with four wickets in as many balls as East Zone, who were 222/5 at one stage, lost their last five wickets for the addition of only 8 runs. Brief scores: North Zone 405 (Kanhaiya Wadhawan 76, Ayush Badoni 63; Manishi 6-111) lead East Zone 230 (Virat Singh 69; Auqib Nabi 5-28, Harshit Rana 2-56) by 175 runs. Central Zone vs North East Zone Danish Malewar’s maiden first-class double hundred, Yash Rathod’s 87 and a strong bowling performance, led by Aditya Thakare and Harsh Dubey, put Central Zone in command against North East Zone. Central Zone posted a sizable 532/4 declared before reducing North East Zone to 168/7 by Stumps on Day 2. Central Zone began the day at 432/2, with Malewar resuming on 198. He went on to bring up a double hundred before retiring out. Rathod then struck a brisk 87 not out, including 11 fours, and put on a good stand with Shubham Sharma (32) to take the team past 500 before they declared. Karnajit Yumnam’s 48 led a steady reply for North East Zone but they ended up losing wickets regularly after a 72-run opening stand and now have a mountain to climb heading into Day 3. Brief scores: Central Zone 532/4 decl. (Danish Malewar 203, Rajat Patidar 125, Yash Rathod 87*; Akash Choudhary 2-103) lead North East Zone 168/7 (Karnajit Yumnam 48; Aditya Thakare 3-23, Harsh Dubey 2-19) by 364 runs.
