West Zone lost four late wickets on day three to slide to 220 for seven against North Zone, while East Zone wrapped up an innings-and-210-run victory over North East Zone.
West Zone squandered a commanding position in its Duleep Trophy quarterfinal against North Zone at the BCCI Centre of Excellence, losing four wickets in the final 30 minutes of day three to close at 220 for seven in pursuit of a 287-run target.
Ruturaj Gaikwad and Musheer Khan had put West Zone back in control with an impressive 111-run partnership for the fourth wicket. However, Gaikwad was run out for 66 following a direct hit from wicketkeeper Kanhaiya Wadhawan, while Musheer fell four runs short of a century for 96 after attempting a wild one-handed sweep. Left-arm spinner Abid Mushtaq then dealt twin blows in the final over of the day to leave the contest wide open.
Earlier in the day, North Zone resumed from an overnight score of 107 for four and was bowled out for 222, anchored by Ayush Badoni's 50 and Nishant Sindhu's 44. All 10 North Zone second-innings wickets fell to spin, with Shams Mulani taking four for 78, Tanush Kotian snaring four for 46, and Musheer claiming two wickets. West Zone's hopes now rest on Urvil Patel (17 batting), alongside remaining batters Shardul Thakur and Kotian.
On the adjacent ground, East Zone sealed a dominant win by an innings and 210 runs against North East Zone to book a semifinal spot against defending champion Central Zone. North East Zone, starting the day at seven for no loss, was dismissed for 146 in its second innings as left-arm spinner Anukul Roy took five for 37 and 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi picked up two for 11.
Reporting sourced from The Hindu Cricket. Photo courtesy The Hindu Cricket.