Duleep Trophy 2023: North Zone continues to dictate terms, sets North East a mammoth target

North Zone came out firing in the morning session to dismiss North East for 134. Despite sitting on a mammoth 406-run innings lead, North decided not to enforce the follow-on. With a spot in the semifinal guaranteed, it had no intention of forcing an early outright win.

North Zone ruthlessly drove North East Zone into the ground on the penultimate day of their Duleep Trophy quarterfinal at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Friday.

North came out firing in the morning session to dismiss North East for 134. Despite sitting on a mammoth 406-run innings lead, North decided not to enforce the follow-on. With a spot in the semifinal guaranteed, it had no intention of forcing an early outright win.

It was the perfect platform for the batters to pile on the runs and reach personal milestones, against a demoralised North East unit.

Ankit Kumar (70), Prabhsimran Singh (59), Jayant Yadav (55 n.o.) and Ankit Kalsi (49) made merry in the afternoon session, swelling North’s already sizeable advantage. Ankit had the chance a score a century, but once he was dismissed one over after tea, the declaration came.

This left North East with an unattainable target of 666. Skipper Jayant, out for a duck in the first essay, stated that it was important for him to get among the runs.

“At the start of the season, it is important to get some time at the crease. Our next match (semifinals) will be against South Zone, so it great to score a fifty here,” Jayant said.

There was a moment of celebration for North East when seamer Jotin Pheiroijam delivered a peach to dismiss first-innings centurion Dhruv Shorey. The 17-year-old Pheiroijam landed one on middle and leg, and got the ball to move sharply to take out off stump.