Murasingh gets five for East; Avesh hits back for Central
East Zone 32 for 2 (Gharami 19*, Nadeem 6*, Avesh 2-13) trail Central Zone 182 (Rinku 38, Murasingh 5-42, Shahbaz Ahmed 2-42) by 150 runs
Tripura’s right-arm pace bowler Manisankar Murasingh led the way for East Zone with 5 for 42 to help them bundle Central Zone out for 182 on the first evening of their Duleep Trophy quarter-final game in Alur. Central lost 6 for 35 in a middle and lower-order collapse, four wickets out of which went to Murasingh. The fall for Central started when Murasingh had wicketkeeper-batter Upendra Yadav caught for 25 in the 59th over, before removing Saransh Jain without scoring two balls later.
All of Central’s top-six batters threw away settled starts with none scoring more than 38. At 86 for 4, Rinku Singh and Upendra got down for some repair work by adding 61. But before the pair could put up anything massive, Murasingh got Upendra to disrupt the opposition’s momentum. Before that, left-arm spinner Shahbaz Ahmed had struck twice to get Rinku, for 38, and Shubham Sharma for 13.
However, Avesh Khan ensured that East didn’t walk away without any damage despite Central’s meagre total. Avesh trapped East’s captain Abhimanyu Easwaran lbw with the first ball he bowled, before going on to have Shantanu Mishra lbw for 6 in the tenth over. He bowled six out of the 12 overs and finished with 2 for 13. East, who ended the day at 32 for 2, had sent in Shahbaz Nadeem as nightwatcher after Mishra’s dismissal. Sudeep Kumar Gharami was unbeaten at the other end with three boundaries in his knock.
Shorey and Sindhu power North
North Zone 306 for 6 (Shorey 135, Sindhu 76*, Singha 2-48, Jotin 2-53) vs North East Zone
Delhi opening batter Dhruv Shorey hit 135 and held North Zone’s middle order together, as North ended day one of their game against North East Zone at a comfortable 306 for 6 after being at a dicey 162 for 4 at one stage. North were also propelled by Haryana’s teenaged allrounder Nishant Sindhu, who ended unbeaten on 76, as they made an inexperienced North East attack work hard in Bengaluru.
Shorey, whose innings came off 211 balls and included 22 fours, was involved in crucial partnerships during his stay. He first added 80 with fellow opening partner Prashant Chopra, before Chopra and No. 3 Ankit Kalsi fell to Pheiroijam Jotin off successive balls. Shorey then added 59 with Prabhsimran Singh for the third wicket and eventually another 80 with Sindhu for the fifth wicket.
Kishan Sangha then nipped out Shorey and North captain Jayant Yadav in the space of three deliveries. But Sindhu ensured that his side ended the day without further hiccups, stitching a 64-run unbeaten stand in a little over 20 overs with Pulkit Narang.