Duleep Trophy Highlights, Day 3, quarterfinals: East 69/6 chasing 300; North need seven wickets to win; Day 3 Stumps

North Zone have ensured a semi-final berth with a first innings lead against North East. They elected to not ensure the follow on and batted again to score 259/6, with half centuries for Ankit Kumar and Jayant Yadav. The team are seven wickets away from an outright win and will look to finish the job early on Day 4.

Central Zone slumped from 124/0 to 239 all out on Day 3, setting a target of 300 for East Zone. But Saurabh Kumar’s four-fer has ensured that Central are in the driving seat, restricting East to 69/6, needing just four more wickets for a win. East need 231 runs for an improbable win. Join us for all the action on day 4 tomorrow.

WICKET!! Consecutive ducks for Kumar Kushagra as Shivam Mavi traps him lbw. Stumps has been called. Central Zone 4 wickets away from a win.

Kumar Kushagra 0(8) lbw Shivam Mavi

WICKET!! Fourth wicket for Saurabh Kumar as opener Shantanu Mishra nicks one to Upendra Yadav. EZ have lost half their men in quick time.

Shantanu Mishra 18(83) ct Upendra Yadav b Saurabh Kumar

North East Zone - 58/3 in 18 overs. Need 608 runs to win.

Nilesh Lamichaney 5 off 20, Palzor 13 off 26

Harshit Rana 1/19, Baltej Singh 1/11

WICKET!! Third wicket for Saurabh Kumar as Shahbaz Ahmed is adjudged caught-behind. Another dismissal where the batter isn’t pleased with umpire Mohit Krishnadas’ decision.

Shahbaz 18(18) ct Upendra Yadav b Saurabh Kumar

WICKET!! North East lose their third. Langlonyamba is found short of his crease. North East need 622 to win.

Langlonyamba M 13(19) Run Out P S Chopra

WICKET!! Anustup Majumdar is displeased after being adjudged lbw while charging down the track. He has a word with the umpires before walking back. Saurabh Kumar gets his second wicket. East Zone need 264 runs to win.

Anustup Majumdar 13(24) lbw Saurabh Kumar

WICKET!! One brings two as Lyndoh is caught by Prabhsimran off Harshit Rana. North East trail by 639.

Kishan Lyndoh 14(20) ct Prabhsimran Singh b Harshit Rana

WICKET!! The first wickets falls! Thankhuma holes out to Nishant Sindhu. Baltej Singh with the wicket.

Thankhuma 7(23) ct Nishant Sindhu b Baltej Singh

WICKET!! Sudip Gharami falls for a seven-ball duck as Avesh Khan finds a thick outside-edge to Vivek Singh at first slip. EZ in trouble.

Sudip Kumar Gharami 0(7) ct Vivek Singh b Avesh Khan

WICKET!! Not a happy outing for Abhimanyu Easwaran once again as Saurabh Kumar picks up a wicket in his first over for the second time in the match.

A R Easwaran 11(16) b Saurabh Kumar

WICKET!! North East finally breaks the partnership, Ankit is stumped off Kishan Singha for 70. And with that North Zone have declared.

Ankit Kumar 70(101) st P Prafullomani b Kishan Singha

Shantanu Mishra and Abhimanyu Easwaran walk out to open the batting for East Zone. They will be confident of chasing down the 300-run target with four sessions remaining in the match, but the surface is not at its best for batting. Should be a close contest.

Skipper Jayant Yadav brings up his half century of 73 balls. North Zone lead by 662 runs. Tea break taken. Will they declare?

WICKET!! East Zone bowls out Central Zone for 239 with Riyan Parag picking up the last wicket. EZ has been set a 300-run target on a pitch that is still pretty good to bat on. Ishan Porel was superb with the ball today, finishing with figures of 12-4-15-3.

Y R Thakur 1(6) b Riyan Parag

WICKET!! Avesh Khan falls on 16 as Shahbaz Nadeem cleans him up with a ball that keeps extremely low. Don’t think the East Zone batters will be too happy seeing that.

Avesh Khan 16(18) b Shahbaz Nadeem

The lead crosses 600 as Ankit Kumar gets to his half-century. Captain Jayant Yadav has managed a 50-run partnership with him for the seventh wicket.

WICKET!! The captain Mavi has to go back to the pavillion. Shahbaz picks his third wicket. Avesh Khan joins Saransh at the crease

Shivam Mavi 5(28) ct Anustup Majumdar b Shahbaz

WICKET!! Imliwati gets his second wicket in two overs as Nishant Sindhu finds the substitute fielder.

Nishant Sindhu 3(5) ct Akash Kumar (Sub) b Imliwati

WICKET!! Prabhsimran departs after his half-century. Bowled by Imliwati. North Zone lead by 547 runs.

Prabhsimran Singh 59(69) b Imliwati

WICKET!! Central Zone is falling apart now. Shahbaz Ahmed traps Shubham Sharma on 23 as three wickets fall in the space of eight balls.

Shubham Sharma 23(56) lbw Shahbaz

50 up for Prabhsimran in the second innings to go with his 31 in the first. North Zone lead by 532 runs.

WICKET!! Ishan Porel on a hat-trick! He pins Upendra Yadav lbw and follows up with a shorter delivery to hit Saurabh Kumar high on the pads for another leg-before.

Saurabh Kumar 0(1) lbw Ishan Porel

WICKET!! Porel gets his second wicket of the day as Yadav is given LBW by the umpire.

Upendra Yadav 7(24) lbw Ishan Porel

WICKET!! Ankit Kalsi departs for 49. Trapped in front by Kishan Singha. None of the North Zone batters able to score big at the moment.

A R Kalsi 49(51) lbw Kishan Singha

A R Kalsi 48* (44), Prabhsimran 32* (42)

Jotin Pheiroijam 2/44

WICKET!! Rinku Singh falls soon after the break as Riyan Parag finds the inside-edge. Sharp catch by Shantanu Mishra at short-leg as CZ loses its fourth wicket. Upendra Yadav joins Shubham Sharma. Central Zone lead by 224 runs.

Rinku Singh 6(8) ct Shantanu Mishra b Riyan Parag

Long day coming up for North East. Best they can hope for is to keep the runs down and minimise the damage.

- Ashwin Achal from Bengaluru

Central lost Kunal Chandela just at the stroke of lunch in an otherwise productive session. The lead has crossed 217 and they will look to extend it post lunch. Vivek Singh and Himanshu Mantri contributed to the cause with a half-century each.

In the other match, North Zone came out to bat again despite bundling out North East for 134. Chopra and Shorey were dismissed early but Kalsi and Prabhsimran have put on 34 for the fourth wicket. North have already been guaranteed a place in the semis courtesy their first innings lead.

Stay Tuned for the second session.

WICKET!! Kunal Chandela falls to Shahbaz Ahmed’s straighter one. Drops back into the crease and is trapped plumb in front as the ball keeps low.

Kunal Chandela 14(59) lbw Shahbaz

WICKET!! Jotin gets first innings centurion Dhruv Shorey with the ball of the match. Pitches on middle leg, moves away and hits off. Shorey stunned. Unreal delivery.

Dhruv Shorey 11(16) b Jotin Pheiroijam

WICKET!! Himanshu Mantri perishes after poking hard and offering an inside-edge catch to leg-slip. Shahbaz Nadeem dismisses the Central Zone opener for a well-compiled 68.

Himanshu Mantri 68(153) ct Riyan Parag b Shahbaz Nadeem

WICKET!! Chopra goes early after holing out to skipper Jonathan. Jotin with the wicket.

P S Chopra 8(11) ct R Jonathan b Jotin Pheiroijam

With the match in the bag, North not keen on enforcing the follow on. So this gives North batters a chance to score some big knocks and get the attention of the selectors.

An outright win is redundant at this stage, as North is already gauranteed a semis spot

- Ashwin Achal from Bengaluru

Nilesh Lamichaney 44(77), P Prafullomani 19(25)

Siddharth Kaul 3/16, Pulkit Narang 3/27

WICKET!! There goes the final wicket and brings the innings to a close. North East still trail by 406 runs. Will see the openers out soon. Dippu the last man to go, bowled by Narang.

Dippu 4(2) b Pulkit Narang

WICKET!! Narang gets his second wicket as he clean bowls Singha. North East trail by 414 runs and look to set to bat again in this session.

Kishan Singha 7(15) b Pulkit Narang

WICKET!! Ishan Porel finally manages to find the breakthrough as he dismisses Vivek Singh for 56, ending a 124-run stand for the Central Zone’s opening wicket. Good knock from the Central Zone opening batter.

Vivek Singh 56(120) b Ishan Porel

WICKET!! A hint of a partnership developing but that has also been extinguished. Prafullomani holes out to Dhruv Shorey. Pulkit Narang with his first wicket of the match.

Prafullomani 19(25) ct Dhruv Shorey b Pulkit Narang

Century Partnership!! The openers doing their job in brilliant fashion for the Central Zone team. Mantri and Vivek have taken the lead past 168 runs. Mantri also brings up his half-century.

Unless there is a dramatic twist looks like East Zone will have their task cut out in the fourth innings chase.

WICKET!! Jotin goes without troubling the scores. Another batter trapped in front of the stumps. Sid Kaul with the wicket this time.

Jotin Pheiroijam 0(6) lbw Siddharth Kaul

WICKET!! Captain Yadav joins the wicket-taking party as he traps Palzor in front. North East six down now.

Palzor 8(17) lbw J J Yadav

WICKET!! The set Lamichaney departs. Siddharth Kaul gets his second wicket of the innings.

Nilesh Lamichaney 44(77) b Siddharth Kaul

Himanshu Mantri and Vivek Singh negotiate the first 30 minutes easily. EZ captain Abhimanyu Easwaran is still hesitant to use Shahbaz Nadeem against the two left-handers.

- Lalith Kalidas from Alur

Himanshu Mantri - 27* (96)

Vivek Singh -35* (93)

WICKET!! Barely ten minutes into the day’s play and Langlonyamba is run out. North East in dire straits now. Palzor joins Lamichaney at the crease.

Langlonyamba M 2(17) Run Out Baltej Singh

Nilesh Lamichaney and Langlonyamba Keishangbam are at the crease looking to get as close as possible to the mammoth score put up by North Zone in its first innings. Jayant Yadav opens the bowling on day 3.

Himanshu Mantri and Vivek Singh continue their excellent opening partnership for Central Zone. The lead has already crossed 120 and the team will be looking to bat the opposition out of contention. Riyan Parag completes the remaining deliveries in his over.

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Central Zone - 64/0 (25.1), Himanshu Mantri 25(81), Vivek Singh 34(72), lead by 124 runs

North East Zone - 65/3 (20), Langlonyamba Keishangbam 1(12), Nilesh Lamichaney 35(57), Baltej Singh 1/32, Siddharth Kaul 1/3, Rana 1/22; trail by 475 runs

Where can you watch Duleep Trophy 2023?

Duleep Trophy 2023 is not shown live or live-streamed in India. You can follow all the latest updates on Sportstar’s live blogs.

Nishant Sindhu (150, 245b, 18x4, 3x6) and Harshit Rana (122 n.o., 86b, 12x4, 9x4) piled on the runs to put North Zone in a commanding position against North East Zone on the second day of their Duleep Trophy quarter-final at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Thursday.

Sindhu and Harshit - a study in contrast - took North to a mammoth 540 for eight declared. In reply, a nervy North East moved to 65 for three in a rain-affected final session.

Harshit later came good with the ball, taking out North East captain R. Jonathan leg-before with an in-dipper. Fellow seamers Siddharth Kaul and Baltej Singh took a wicket each to pin North East on the mat.

- Ashwin Achal from Bengaluru

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Central Zone served up a fine riposte before rain piled more misery on East Zone on Day 2 of their Duleep Trophy quarter-final at the Alur (I) Cricket Ground in Bengaluru on Thursday.

Bowling with just a 150-run lead at the start of play, Central stunned the opposition batters and folded them for 122 in their first essay. Shivam Mavi’s men picked up eight wickets within the opening session to gain a healthy 60-run advantage.

After a day-and-a-half of poor application from the batters, Central openers Himanshu Mantri (25 batting) and Vivek Singh (34 batting) made amends to play out a session while heavy rain stopped play before Tea. A downpour then forced early stumps as Central held fort on 64 for no loss.

- Lalith Kalidas from Alur

Read the full report here - READ

Hello and welcome to the live coverage of day 3 of the Duleep Trophy 2023 quarterfinals played between Central Zone and East Zone at Alur (I) Cricket Ground and North Zone vs North East Zone at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Stay tuned as we bring you all the updates right from the venue!