NE Zone thwart Central's victory bid as match ends in draw

Bengaluru, Aug 31 (PTI) North East Zone batted bravely to deny Central Zone an outright win but could not stop them from marching into the Duleep Trophy semifinals by the virtue of a decisive first-innings lead here Sunday. North East Zone, chasing a mammoth 679-run target on the final day put on board 200 for six as the match ended in a tame draw .

Central Zone posted 532/4 and took a first-innings lead of 347 runs by dismissing the opponents for a paltry 185. In their second effort, Central zone posted 331/7 declared to set NE Zone an improbable victory target.

NE Zone players batted with caution all day in their second innings with wicketkeeper-batter Jehu Anderson (64 off 96 balls) and skipper Rongsen Jonathan (60 off 97 balls) scoring fighting half centuries to frustrate the rival bowlers.

Central came into the final day confident and quickly sent the NE Zone batters reeling by reducing them to 40 for 2 in only the 15th over.

Young left-arm spinner Harsh Dubey (2/53) struck off the last ball of the 14th over to get rid of opener Karnajit Yumnam for 17 runs.

The cricketer from Manipur endured a tough opening spell of pace bowling along with senior partner Techi Doria (15 off 47 balls) to stitch a 40-run partnership.

However, NE Zone lost both their openers one after the other with Doria walking back to the dressing room in the very first ball of the 15th over bowled by pacer Adiyta Thakare (2/21).

At 40/2 things looked gloomy for NE Zone. It soon became 66/3 after Thakare struck again to send Ashish Thapa (13) packing.

NE Zone took the setback in their stride and started building their innings with young Anderson and domestic stalwart Jonathan, who has represented Karnataka, Nagaland and Railways, playing within their means to cobble together a 110-run stand.

It was a defining partnership in the game which frustrated the Central Zone bowlers as the pair put their heads together to guide their team to a draw despite the odds heavily stacked against them.

Anderson struck 11 boundaries and a six, while Jonathan, the 38-year-old hit nine fours.

The duo perished one after the other in the space of 10 runs leaving NE Zone precariously placed at 186/6.

However, Pheiroijam Jotin (9 not out off 23 balls) and Ankur Malik (5 not out off 14 balls) joined hands to thwart Central's victory charge by playing out the remaining overs with caution.

Brief Scores: Central Zone 532/4 decl and 331/7 in 80.3 overs (Shubham Sharma 122, Yash Rathod 78, Rajat Patidar 66, Akash Choudhary 2/44).

North East Zone 1st Innings: 185 all out in 69.3 overs and 200 for 6 in 58 overs (Jehu Anderson 64, Rongsen Jonathan 60; Harsh Dubey 2/53, Aditya Thakare 2/21, Shubham Sharma 2/10). PTI AM AM AT AT