North Zone beat West Zone by 52 runs to reach Duleep Trophy semifinal

North Zone defeated West Zone by 52 runs at the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru on Wednesday, August 26, 2026, to advance to the 2026-27 Duleep Trophy semifinal, with the chase wrapped up inside 28 minutes on the final morning.

Chasing 287, West Zone needed 67 runs with three wickets in hand at the start of the day but lost a flurry of wickets and failed to set up a last-four meeting with South Zone in the clash scheduled to begin on Sunday, August 30, 2026. The match was the second quarter-final of the Duleep Trophy held at the CoE grounds.

Tanush Kotian was the first to fall when left-arm spinner Abid Mushtaq deceived him with a delivery that kept its line after pitching and uprooted the stumps; Mushtaq finished with four for 60. Mushtaq operated in tandem with fellow left-armer Nishant Sindhu, prompting West to send southpaw Tushar Deshpande in ahead of Shardul Thakur to try to disrupt the pair's rhythm.

Deshpande survived 17 deliveries before stepping out and nicking a thick edge to slip off Mushtaq, and Urvil Patel (25, 35b, 4x4) lasted only three balls with Shardul before missing a slog sweep to Nishant Sindhu and being given out leg-before. The late wickets completed West’s innings at 234 in 57.3 overs.

Earlier in the match Musheer Khan made 96 off 126 balls with eight fours and two sixes, and Ruturaj Gaikwad scored 66 off 70 balls with seven fours as they batted confidently until around 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, August 25, 2026. India cricketer Arshdeep Singh said: “I was thinking about Sher-E-Punjab, back home, and what time I should get my ticket booked,” and added: “But we just stayed in the moment and we always knew that whenever the partnership breaks, there is a chance. “The run-out we got [of Ruturaj]… credit goes to Kanhaiya [Wadhawan] for that. That wicket came, and after that it changed.”

In just one hour of cricket, spread across day three and day four, North had gone from 195 for three to 234 all out during their second innings collapse, a period that briefly shifted momentum in the game.

The full score: North Zone 251 & 222 bt West Zone 187 & 234 in 57.3 overs (Musheer Khan 96, Ruturaj Gaikwad 66, Abid Mushtaq 4/60). North Zone will now meet South Zone in the Duleep Trophy semifinal beginning on Sunday, August 30, 2026.