Shikhar Dhawan’s half-century for North Zone in their second innings and Kamlesh Makwana’s 5 for 80 for West Zone were the bright spots on the final day of the drawn match of the quarterfinals in the Duleep Trophy at MA Chidambaram Stadium here on Tuesday. North entered the semifinals by virtue of their first innings lead.
Set an impossible target of 529 by North with hardly a session of play left, West were 69 for 2 in their second essay when play was called off. North will meet Central in the semifinal at Hyderabad on October 14.
Resuming from overnight 30 for no loss, North declared their second innings at 208 for 7. North openers Rahul Dewan and Dhawan started with a bang. Both batted sensibly. West bowled better in the second innings, which forced the duo to cut down on their flamboyance. After making a solid 50, Dhawan lost his patience and was stumped by Parthiv Patel off Makwana.
Barring the opening pair, the other North batsman failed to apply themselves and got out to non-percentage shots. Parthiv Patel was busy behind the stumps. He gave a good account of himself. It is only a matter of time before he gets back into the National squad as second wicketkeeper.
Makwana was the pick of West bowlers. He had the distinction of picking up his second five-wicket haul in the match. His ability to flight the ball and induce the batsmen to commit mistakes proved effective. He will play a big role in Saurashtra’s Ranji fortunes this season.
Harmeet Singh bowled a better line and length in the second innings. Apart from a bad delivery here and there, he looked a much improved bowler than what one saw him in the first essay.
When queried if West would have performed better if they had won the toss and batted first? West captain Cheteshwar Pujara had this to say: “Not really. Even in the second innings the wicket was slow. I don’t think winning the toss would have made a big impact. Our batting was poor. We got out by playing shots too early. We failed to register big partnerships and could not give a good fight,’’ said Pujara.
Scoreboard:
North Zone (1st innings) 484
West Zone (1st inngs) 164
North Zone (2nd innings): Dewan c Patel b Makwana 45, S Dhawan St Parthiv b Makwana 50,
Sunny b Harmeet 28, Saini c Makwana b Harmeet 18, Siddana b Makwana 13, Dogra (not out) 36, R Dhawan st Parthiv b Makwana 10, V Mishra (not out) 0, Extras (b-1, lb-2, w-2) 5. Total (7 wkts decl, 67 overs) 208.
Fall of wickets: 1-78, 2-111, 3-131, 4-148, 5-176, 6-188, 7-204.
Bowling: Fallah 11-3-25-0, Vahora 6-2-17-0, Abhishek 9-1-31-0, Makwana 23-2-80-5, Harmeet 14-2-41-2, Jadhav 4-1-11-0.
West Zone (2nd innings): Chauhan c Saini b A Mishra 20, Pawar lbw V Mishra 20, Rahane (not out) 15, Pujara (not out) 10, Extras (nb-4) 4.
Total (2 wkts, 29 overs) 69.
Fall of Wickets: 1-42, 2-42.
Bowling: A Mishra 14-3-28-1, V Mishra 14-4-36-1, Dogra 1-0-5-0.