North Zone batted East out of the match, stretching its lead to a massive 563 runs by stumps, on day three of the Duleep Trophy quarterfinal at the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru on Saturday.

After having secured a 175-run first-innings lead, North skipper Ankit Kumar (168 batting, 264b, 16×4, 1×6) and Yash Dhull (133, 157b, 14×4, 3×6) ran amok even as East – missing pacer Mukesh Kumar because of a thigh strain he suffered while bowling in the first essay – appeared spiritless, with its players’ heads mostly low and shoulders sagging.

This is perhaps the biggest downside of the knockout format wherein the first-innings lead is enough for progress and earning a draw has zero value for a team on the backfoot. In last year’s round-robin competition with four teams, every point mattered.

North Zone, already ahead in the contest, thus chose not to enforce the follow on, and made merry. Ankit and Dhull were both reprieved – the former dropped on 112 and the latter when on 48, both off left-arm spinner Manishi.

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Dhull was aggressive from the get-go, showing a good mix of powerful strokes down the ground, and steers and drives to the off-side fence. Ankit was a notch slower but breezy in his shot-making.

Dhull moved into the 90s with back-to-back boundaries, following up an expansive drive with a cheeky lift over short-third. The 22-year-old got to his eighth First Class century with a single to mid-off.

Ankit, in a reversal of sorts, chose the spectacular, smashing Manishi for a maximum to get to his sixth First Class ton.

Dhull eventually fell leg-before to skipper and part-timer Riyan Parag after a 240-run association for the second wicket. But by then, the tie had long escaped East Zone’s grasp, something made more evident by the fact that Mohammed Shami did not bowl a single over in the final session.

Published on Aug 30, 2025