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Duleep Trophy 2023 | Saurabh Kumar Bags 8/64 As Central Zone Enter Semis

image-ljjoy1dcSaurabh Kumar picked eight wickets in the second innings (Twitter)

Central Zone have qualified for the semifinal of the ongoing Duleep Trophy 2023, off the back of their huge 170-run win over the East Zone. Team’s leading spinner Saurabh Kumar bagged 11 wickets in the contest, including eight in the second East Zone innings to be fittingly adjudged as ‘Player of the Match’.


East Zone all out for 129 to concede quarter-final

East Zone, chasing an exact 300, resumed Day 4 at 69-6. Overnight batter Riyan Parag failed to get going in the run-chase as he was trapped in front of stumps by Saurabh Kumar to become one of his eight victims of the innings.

Wickets fell in quick succession thereafter and the East Zone response finally fell flat at a mere 129, thus conceding a spot at the semi-finals to the Centrals by 170 runs.

Kumar sent down more than 18 overs from his end, out of the 41.2 overs East Zone faced in the run-chase. The 30-year-old all-rounder was assisted by team’s new-ball pacers Shivam Mavi and Avesh Khan, who restricted the run-flow and claimed a wicket each from their tight spells.

The left-arm spinner had also snared three during the first East Zone innings, where Abhimanyu Easwaran and co. managed just 122 in their response to Central Zone’s 182.

The Central Zone will now face the West Zone in the semi-final at Alur’s KSCA Cricket Ground. The four-day fixture will commence from July 5, while the title clash is scheduled for July 12 at the iconic M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.