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Central Zone reached the Duleep Trophy semi-finals after a drawn match with North East Zone, owing to their first-innings lead. Shubham Sharma starred with 122 and key wickets.
Duleep Trophy 2025: Central Zone’s Rajat Patidar and Shubham Sharma run between the wickets against North East Zone (PTI)
Central Zone has advanced to the Duleep Trophy semi-finals based on their first-innings lead over North-East Zone in their drawn quarter-final game at the BCCI CoE Ground 2 on Sunday.
Central Zone will now face West Zone in the semi-final at the CoE starting on September 4.
How Central Zone Pipped North-East Zone In Duleep Trophy?
In the morning, North East Zone began their pursuit of the improbable target of 679 runs to win, after Central Zone declared their innings at 331/7 in 80.3 overs, with a lead of 678 runs. North East Zone managed to score 200/6 in 58 overs before the game ended in a draw, with Jehu Anderson and R Jonathan scoring 64 and 60 respectively.
North East Zone’s chase started with Karnajit Yumnam and Techi Doria tackling challenging bowling from Deepak Chahar and Khaleel Ahmed to share a 40-run opening partnership. Central Zone made their breakthrough in the 14th over when left-arm spinner Harsh Dubey had Yumnam (17) caught by skipper Rajat Patidar at cover.
On the very next ball, Central Zone struck again as Aditya Thakare bowled Doria for 15, before removing Ashish Thapa for 13, who nicked behind to substitute keeper Upendra Yadav. Anderson and Jonathan showed strong resistance by sharing a 110-run partnership off 168 balls for the fourth wicket.
Their admirable fightback ended when off-spinner Shubham Sharma dismissed Anderson for 64 before bowling Hem Chetri. Dubey then claimed his second wicket by removing Jonathan for 60, as North East Zone slipped from 176/3 to 186/6, losing three wickets for just 10 runs. With no result in sight, both teams agreed to a draw at tea, and play was called off.
Brief Scores: Central Zone 532/4 dec and 331/7 dec (Shubham Sharma 122; Akash Kumar 2-44) draw with North East Zone 185 and 200/6 in 58 overs (Jehu Anderson 64, R Jonathan 60; Shubham Sharma 2-10, Aditya Thakare 2-21)
(With inputs from IANS)
Ritayan Basu, Senior Sub-Editor, Sports at News18.com. Has been covering domestic and and international football for nearly a decade. Has played and covered badminton. Ocassionally writes cricket content, havin…Read More
Ritayan Basu, Senior Sub-Editor, Sports at News18.com. Has been covering domestic and and international football for nearly a decade. Has played and covered badminton. Ocassionally writes cricket content, havin… Read More
Read More
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