Ankit, Dhull hundreds grind East Zone, take North Zone closer to Duleep Trophy semifinals

Bengaluru, Aug 30 (PTI) Skipper Ankit Kumar and promising batter Yash Dhull made contrasting hundreds to place North Zone on the cusp of the Duleep Trophy semifinals here Saturday.

North Zone chose to bat again despite holding a 183-run lead. While Ankit (168 batting) and Dhull (133, 157 balls) further bolstered that situation, taking their side to a mammoth 388 for two at the end of third day’s play for an overall lead of 563 runs.

But the third day of the quarterfinal match was all about the ruthlessness of North Zone in extending their supremacy through Ankit and Dhull who milked 240 runs for the second wicket off just 290 balls.

They did it in their own way. Dhull was all aggression and Ankit went about his task in a more mellowed manner.

After the early dismissal of Shubham Khajuria (21), who was castled by Suraj Jaiswal, East Zone bowlers struggled to make any impact on the North pair.

Senior pacer Mohammed Shami found occasional movement and troubled the batters, but that was all the East bowlers could manage on the day.

Dhull’s off-side play was exceptional as 57 runs came off in the arc between point and cover region, as he went past 50 in 49 balls.

But the 22-year-old had big slice of fortune when Sharandeep Singh dropped him on 48 at covers off left-arm spinner Manishi, and the Delhi batter did not require any second invitation to exploit the reprieve.

Ankit, meanwhile, went past fifty in 74 balls, and soon his younger partner completed his eighth first-class century in 112 balls.

The only time Dhull looked a bit unsettled was in the 90s when Shami, who restricted himself to just 11 overs on the day, troubled him with a slew of quick snorters, but he withered the storm. Along with Ankit, Dhull, who had a surgery to remove a hole in his heart last year, never gave any respite to the East spinners, often coming down the track to disrupt their rhythm.

Dhull reached his hundred with a single to mid-off, but Ankit fetched the milestone with much more flourish, with a six off Manishi. North went to tea at 290 for one in 64 overs, and added 125 runs in the middle session without losing a wicket.

Ankit's hundred came in 155 balls and he also received a let off when Utkarsh Singh grassed him at the first slip off Manishi when the batter was on 112.

The situation was so grim for the East as Shami did not turn his arm over in the final session of the day and the injury-enforced absence of pacer Mukesh Kumar too hurt their plans.

Just as the alliance was chugging along nicely, Dhull fell to a rather innocuous delivery from East skipper Riyan Parag.

Dhull walked across to play a clip off the leg but missed the ball to get adjudged leg before.

But Ankit floored the pedal after his hundred as North went on overdrive in the final hour, adding 98 runs. PTI UNG PDS PDS