Duleep Trophy: Abid’s five-for puts North on top

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Abid ran through the West Zone middle-order. | Photo Credit: ALLEN EGENUSE J.

Abid Mushtaq’s left-arm spin bamboozled West Zone as North secured a 64-run first-innings lead on day two of the Duleep Trophy quarterfinals at the BCCI Centre of Excellence here on Monday.

The Jammu & Kashmir tweaker excelled with a fine five for 39 as West, starting from 31 for two, was bundled out for 187, with only Shams Mulani showing a semblance of fight (52, 94b, 7x4, 1x6).

And by the time a combination of bad light and rain ended proceedings, North was 171 runs in the green with Ayush Badoni at the crease on a confident 39 (49b, 5x4), and six wickets and two days remaining.

Abid had served an appetiser late on the opening day by castling West opener Prithvi Shaw with a classic left-arm spinner’s delivery. In the opening session of day two, he ran through the middle-order, bowling 11 overs, conceding 13 runs and claiming three wickets.

Chief among those dismissals was that of captain Ruturaj Gaikwad. The Maharashtra batter stepped out of the crease, only for the red cherry to dip and hold its line. Ruturaj tried to cover for his error by offering his pad first. The unimpressed umpire gave him his marching orders.

Two balls later, Urvil Patel was also trapped in front, and it was only apt that Abid provided the finishing touches by sending back No. 10 Tushar Deshpande just before tea to complete a much deserved five-wicket haul.

On the adjacent ground, the contest between East and North East moved at a more frenetic pace. From an overnight 355 for six, East raked up 467 and then shot out its opponent for a paltry 111, with Tripura medium-pacer Abhijit Sarkar scalping five for 20 runs.

With two days to go and a mammoth 349 runs in the red, India’s newest — and weakest — cricket zone has a near-impossible task.

The scores: North Zone 251 & 107/4 in 21 overs vs. West Zone 187 in 65.4 overs (Shams Mulani 52, Abid Mushtaq 5/39).

East Zone 467 in 112.5 overs (Kumar Kushagra 55, Sudip Gharami 146, Shahbaz Ahmed 167) vs. North East Zone 111 in 42.5 overs (Abhijit Sarkar 5/20) & 7/0 in one over.

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