Duleep Trophy semifinals: East bowl out Central for 266; South 40-2 against North

East Zone bowled out Central Zone for 266 and South Zone were 40 for 2 against North Zone on the opening day of the Duleep Trophy semifinals on Sunday.

Fast bowling dominated the day, with East Zone captain Ishan Kishan opting to field after winning the toss and his attack returning key wickets; Mukesh Kumar took 3 for 56 and Abhijit Sarkar 3 for 38, while Md Kounain Quraishi and Mohammed Shami claimed two apiece. In the other semi, Vidwath Kaverappa led South Zone’s effort with figures of 4 for 66 as North Zone were dismissed for 195, supported by MD Nidheesh (2 for 36) and Tanay Thyagarajan (2 for 31). Pace bowlers accounted for eight of the 12 wickets to fall during the day.

Central Zone were dismissed for 266 in 80.1 overs after early and mid-innings setbacks left them 125 for 5 by the 45th over. Rinku Singh top-scored with 60 off 88 balls and Aryan Juyal made 46, while Rinku and Harsh Dubey added 55 for the sixth wicket before momentum shifted again.

Harsh Dubey contributed 27 before being trapped lbw by Quraishi in the 60th over; Saransh Jain and Aryan Pandey made 13 and 22 respectively. Yash Thakur provided late acceleration with a quick 30 off 26, but Central fell short of 300.

North Zone’s 195 all out featured a patient 76 from Qamran Iqbal, who faced 182 balls and struck 10 fours and a six while wickets tumbled at the other end. Sanat Sangwan, returning to the XI, was the first batter to fall after offering a return catch to Nidheesh; Kavuri Saiteja removed Ayush Doseja for 23, and Thyagarajan dismissed Ayush Badoni and captain Kanhaiya Wadhawan, who made 35.

Kaverappa’s short delivery had Iqbal caught behind before the Karnataka pacer finished by cleaning up the lower order; Saiteja and Shreyas Gopal also took one wicket each. South Zone replied but were reduced to 40 for 2 at stumps, still 155 runs behind North.

Anshul Kamboj bowled Ricky Bhui for five and Gurnoor Brar trapped Shaik Rasheed lbw for a duck, leaving Narayan Jagadeesan unbeaten on 34 off 58 balls with six boundaries. Jagadeesan will resume alongside skipper Tilak Varma, who had not scored when stumps were drawn.

Both semifinals remain finely poised heading into the second day.