Bowlers dominated the opening day of the Duleep Trophy semifinals at the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru on Sunday. Both matches remain finely balanced as seamers put heavy pressure on the batters for the remaining three days of the tournament.
East Zone elected to field first and dismissed Central Zone for 266 runs in 80.1 overs at Ground 1.
Rinku Singh scored 60 runs from 88 balls to provide the most significant resistance after an early wicket. Aryan Juyal contributed 46 runs, while Yash Thakur remained unbeaten on 30.
Abhijit Sarkar was the standout bowler for East Zone with figures of 3 for 38, alongside Mukesh Kumar who claimed 3 wickets and Mohammed Shami who took 2 wickets. East Zone did not bat before stumps.
North Zone chose to bat at Ground 2 and was bundled out for 195 runs in 59.1 overs.
Qamran Iqbal scored a patient 76 runs from 182 deliveries, while Kanhaiya Wadhawan added 35 runs during a 66-run partnership.
Vidwath Kaverappa took 4 wickets for 66 runs and tore through the tail as North Zone lost their final five wickets for just 21 runs.
South Zone reached 40 for 2 by stumps, trailing by 155 runs. North Zone bowlers Anshul Kamboj and Gurnoor Brar took late wickets before Narayan Jagadeesan finished the day at 34 not out.
