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East wins, picks up five points

Special Correspondent

MUMBAI: Ranadeb Bose and Tushar Saha delivered timely blows to rock South Zone in the Duleep Trophy cricket match at the Wankhede here. Palash Jyoti Das took his role as a part-time spinner seriously as he picked up two wickets off four balls.

An engrossing contest between the two zonal sides came to a swift end just after lunch with East winning by 68 runs after bowling out South for 204 in the second innings. S. Badrinath, who was the top-scorer (57, 125b), appeared comfortable at the crease but was unable to see his side home.

Bose strikes

Bose, refreshed after a stint at the National Cricket Academy (Bangalore), had three strikes on the final day which included Badrinath, Swapnil Asnodkar and R. Ashwin. The first two were unable to counter the swing, snicking to slip fielder S.S. Das.

Ashwin, given out on zero by umpire A. Saheba (who reversed the decision after referral to the third umpire), could not cash in on the chance as he nibbled at a delivery on the off-stump for wicketkeeper and East hero Halhadar Das to complete a low catch.

Good catch

Saha, a left-arm spinner from Tripura, got rid of Vinay Kumar as S.S. Das dashed across from slip to leg-slip in time to catch the mistimed sweep.

South slipped to 184 for eight and despite N.C. Aiyappa throwing his bat — he hit a straight six and four off Saha — victory seemed only a distant possibility.

East brought on another Das, spinner Palash Jyoti, who teased Aiyappa and Pragyan Ojha with flight to get rid of them. Even after Badrinath fell on the fourth morning, South had the free-stroking Prasad Reddy and opener Asnodkar, batting down the order, to carry out the task.

Reddy changed bats twice, looked in control and hit seven fours before nicking behind. Asnodkar, who used a runner due to a groin strain, drove Bose to the long-on fence twice in an over but the bowler had the last laugh.

South folded up for 204 and is now out of the competition. East (five points) takes on North Zone in the concluding tie.

The scores:

East — 1st innings: 313.

South — 1st innings: 204.

East — 2nd innings: 163.

South — 2nd innings: M. Vijay c H. Das b Mohanty 0, R. Teja lbw b Saha 54, S. Badrinath c S.S. Das b Bose 57, Arjun Yadav lbw b Saha 12, Prasad Reddy c H. Das b Paul 39, R. Ashwin c H. Das b Bose 0, S. Asnodkar c S.S. Das b Bose 15, Vinay Kumar c S.S. Das b Saha 1, N.C. Aiyappa c Mohanty b P.J. Das 14, P. Ojha c Bose b P.J. Das 6, Vijay Kumar (not out) 0; Extras (lb-5, nb-1): 6; Total (in 61.4 overs): 204.

Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-85, 3-113, 4-143, 5-143, 6-171, 7-184, 8-184, 9-200.

East bowling: Mohanty 14-3-36-1, Bose 14-2-67-3, Paul 14-3-34-1, Saha 17-4-56-3, Behera 2-0-2-0, P.J. Das 0.4-0-4-2.

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