North Zone seized control of their Duleep Trophy quarter-final against West Zone at the BCCI Centre of Excellence, ending Day 2 with a 171-run lead. The innings was defined by a clinical bowling display from J&K left-arm spinner Abid Mushtaq, who claimed 5-39, and Arshdeep Singh, who secured 3-53. West Zone struggled to build momentum, eventually folding for 187 runs despite a resilient 52 from Shams Mulani, the only half-centurion of their innings.
The morning session began with West Zone at 31/2, showing initial promise as Musheer Khan and Shivalik Sharma found the boundary against Anshul Kamboj and Arshdeep. However, the game shifted when Mushtaq was reintroduced to the attack. He dismissed Shivalik Sharma before dismantling the middle order, removing captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, Urvil Patel, and Musheer Khan—who had occupied the crease for 126 balls for his 31 runs—to leave West Zone reeling at 70/5. Although Mulani found support from the lower order, including Tushar Deshpande who struck two sixes, the team conceded a 64-run deficit.
In their second innings, North Zone faced early pressure as Mulani dismissed openers Yash Dhull and Qamran Iqbal, and Tanush Kotian trapped Doseja leg-before to reduce the side to 41/3. A 46-run partnership between Ayush Badoni and Abdul Samad stabilized the innings, pushing the lead to 171 by stumps. North Zone finished the day at 107/4, with Badoni unbeaten on 39 and Samad contributing 30.
Meanwhile, East Zone asserted total dominance over North East Zone. Powered by Shahbaz Ahmed’s career-best 167 and Sudip Kumar Gharani’s 146, East Zone posted a formidable 467 in their first innings. The bowling attack was equally clinical, led by Abhijit Sarkar’s 5-20 and Ahmed’s 3-20, which bundled North East Zone out for just 111. Only Arpit Bhatewara managed to cross 30 runs for his side.
The collapse was swift; after reaching 72/2, North East Zone lost four wickets to fall to 106/6, followed by a dramatic slide that saw the final four wickets fall at the same score of 111. Forced to follow on with a 356-run deficit, North East Zone closed the day at 7/0. Brief scores for the match show East Zone at 467 against North East Zone’s 111 and 7/0 in their second innings, with Mohammed Shami bowling for the fielding side. The report also notes that playing out 126 balls for his 31, the spell neutralised the resistive shell Musheer had managed until then. The report also notes that tushar Deshpande hit a couple of sixes to nudge them close to 200. The report also notes that but Abid Mushtaq’s re-introduction (he had already nabbed Prithvi Shaw) saw him prise out Shivalik. The report also notes that and Mushtaq bowled very quick, making it difficult to sweep or charge at him, there was plenty of turn on offer. The report also notes that he would later reveal that he idolises Ravindra Jadeja. The report also notes that briefly helped in parts by their deep batting (Tanush Kotian at eight, Shardul Thakur at nine), mulani then held one end. The report also notes that but the team still ended up with a 64-run deficit, the four combined to bat 173 balls together.
