Duleep Trophy: Central Zone moves to semifinals after clash with North East Zone ends in draw

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], August 31 (ANI): The quarterfinal fixture of the ongoing Duleep Trophy between Central Zone and North East Zone ended in a draw on Sunday, with Central Zone making it to the semifinals on the basis of their massive first innings lead.

North East Zone elected to win the toss and opted to field first. After Central Zone opener Aayush Pandey (3) was dismissed early, a 139-run stand between Danish Malewar and Aaryan Juyal (60 in 100 balls, with eight fours) kept the scoreboard ticking till Juyal retired hurt.

What followed was a massive carnage as Maleshwar had a double century partnership with skipper Rajat Patidar (125 in 96 balls, with 21 fours and three sixes), with the captain reaching the milestone in just 80 balls, playing his first competitive match after leading Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) to their maiden Indian Premier League (IPL) title.

Malewar retired out for 203 in 222 balls, with 36 fours and a six, letting Yash Rathod (87* in 108 balls, with 11 fours) and Shubham Sharma (34 in 76 balls, with two fours), get some game time and take the team to a massive 532/4 declared.

In reply, NEZ was skittled out for 185 runs in just 69.3 overs, with Karnajit Yumnam (48 in 77 balls, with eight fours and a six) and Ankur Malik (42 in 55 balls, with five fours and two sixes) being the top scorers for their side.

Aditya Thakare (3/23) led the bowling charts for Central Zone, while Khaleel Ahmed and Harsh Dubey also scooped a couple wickets each. Deepak Chahar also got a wicket.

With a healthy 347-run lead in their hands, Central Zone got to bat again. Shubham Sharma (122 in 215 balls, with 17 fours) got a promotion up the order to number three, and he made the most of it. Skipper Patidar (66 in 72 balls, with six fours and three sixes) and Yash Rathod (78 in 83 balls, with 11 fours) also got cracking half-centuries. Central Zone ended with 331/7 declared, giving their opponents 679 runs to a win, a mountain-like target.

Jehu Anderson (64 in 96 balls, with 11 fours and a six) and skipper Rongsen Jonathan (60 in 97 balls, with nine fours) showed up for NEZ with half-centuries, but at 200/6, both teams shook hands for a draw.

Dubey, Thakre and Shubham got two wickets each.

Now Central Zone will take on West Zone in the semifinal from September 4 onwards. (ANI)

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