PUDUCHERRY: Technically cound batter Yash Dhull's iridescent 193 (243b, 28x4, 2x6) put North Zone in driver's seat against East Zone on Day 3 of quarterfinal of Duleep Trophy here at the quaint CAP ground on Saturday.
North Zone, replying to East's 397, was 433 for three at close and all but through to the Duleep Trophy semifinals, on a pitch that just refuses to deteriorate.
Himanshu Rana (62 batting, 82b, 8x4) who struck the ball firmly, and skipper Mandeep Singh (34 batting), were together at stumps.
Earlier, the opening pair of Dhull and Manan Vohra (44) put on 128 in 29.2 overs.
Vohra, who struck the ball crisply, was stumped off left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem.
There was no let-up for East. Dhull and Dhruv Shorey added 192 for the second wicket. Shorey (81, 163b,9x4) played some handsome shots in front of the wickets.
The 19-year-old Dhull, dismissed off a no-ball once, missed out on a double hundred playing on to paceman Manishankar Murasingh. Shorey was cleaned up by seamer Akash Deep.
However, East's strikes were few and far between. North is in the box seat.
Moreover, Jaydev Unadkat's (3/35) early triple strike followed by Chirag Jani's (4/38) four-wicket haul to clean up the tail, ensured West Zone took a 355-run first innings lead over North East Zone in other quarterfinal in Chennai on Saturday.
West Zone skipper Ajinkya Rahane declared overnight with his team sitting pretty at 590/2. For North East, Ankur Malik provided some rear-guard action with a quick 81 off just 95 balls to bail out his side from deep trouble before the debutant team was bowled out for 235. Agencies
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