Ishant, Mishra help North to huge first-innings lead

North Zone strengthened their grip on the Duleep Trophy quarter-final in Chennai with a combined bowling performance that bowled West Zone out for 164 and secured a 320-run lead. Ishant Sharma destroyed the top order and legspinner Amit Mishra ran through the tail, taking seven wickets between them. The North Zone openers batted for 14 overs to add 30 runs before stumps, with a day remaining.

Six for 1 overnight, West Zone's slump began in the second over of the day, when opener Kaustubh Pawar fell without a run being scored. The new batsmen tried to build partnerships but were slow. When in-form Cheteshwar Pujara got out to Ishant in the 22nd over, West Zone were struggling at 40 for 4. Bhushan Chauhan and wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel batted together for 24.2 overs, scoring 72 runs - the highest stand of the innings. Chauhan was dismissed by Ishant, who had accounted for four top-order wickets. Patel reached a fifty but departed soon after, and West Zone were 128 for 6. The last four wickets added only 36 more.

Besides Sharma and Mishra, seamer Rishi Dhawan also helped North Zone with important wickets of No. 3 batsman Murtuja Vahora and Patel. To force a result on the last day, North Zone will want to declare early and bowl West Zone out quickly again.