Duleep Trophy 2023 Quarter-finals, Day 2 round-up: Sindhu, Rana slam tons as North Zone declare on 540/8

Nishant Sindhu (150 off 245) and Harshit Rana (122* off 86) struck contrasting hundreds as North Zone declared their first innings on 540/8 in quarter-final 2 of the Duleep Trophy 2023 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Thursday. In response, North East Zone were 65/3 at stumps.

North Zone resumed their first innings on 306/6, with Sindhu unbeaten on 76 and Pulkit Narang on 23. The latter perished for a defiant 46, caught behind off Palzor Tamang. There was not much joy for North East Zone thereafter as Sindhu and Rana added 104 for the eighth wicket.

Sindhu struck 18 fours and three sixes in his knock before being dismissed for exactly 150. On the other hand, Rana played an absolutely whirlwind knock, which featured nine sixes and 12 fours. The excellent stand was broken when Sindhu perished to Imliwati Lemtur.

Responding to North Zone’s huge first-innings total, North East Zone lost Kishan Lyngdoh for 5 as he was bowled by Siddarth Kaul. Baltej Singh and Rana then accounted for Joseph Lalthankhuma (4) and Rongsen Jonathan (15), respectively.

At stumps on Day 2 of the Duleep Trophy 2023 quarter-final 2, North East Zone were trailing North Zone by 475 runs, with Nilesh Lamichaney batting on 35 and Langlonyamba Meitan Keishangbam on 1.

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Bowlers lead Central Zone’s fightback against East Zone in Quarter-final 1 of Duleep Trophy 2023

Central Zone’s bowlers came up with an excellent bowling performance to bundle out East Zone for 122 on Day 2 of the first quarter-final of the Duleep Trophy 2023 at the KSCA Cricket Ground in Alur.

Having been bowled out for 182 on the opening day, Central Zone reduced East Zone to 32/2 by stumps as Avesh Khan trapped Abhimanyu Easwaran (0) and Shantanu Mishra (6) leg before. The bowlers continued their good work on Day 2, cleaning up East Zone in 42.2 overs.

Saurabh Kumar (3/46) dismissed Sudip Kumar Gharami lbw for 27 and also bowled Shahbaz Nadeem for 17. At the other end, Yash Thakur had Anustup Majumdar caught behind for 4. East Zone were seven down for 76 as Kumar Kushagra (0) and Shahbaz Ahmed (3) were bowled by Kumar and Avesh respectively.

Riyan Parag (33) and Manisankar Murasingh (30*) ensured the batting side at least crossed the 100-run mark, adding 40 runs for the eighth wicket. Shivam Mavi (2/24) dismissed Parag and Akash Deep (0) in one over to scuttle East Zone’s fight back.

Central Zone continued their good work in the Duleep Trophy 2023 quarter-final, reaching 64/0 by stumps on Day 2. Vivek Singh was unbeaten on 34 and Himanshu Mantri on 25.