Nehra back to form

Close Day 2 East Zone 287 for 8 (Arindam Das 70, Kiran Powar 69*) trail North Zone 330 (Paul 5-83) by 43 runs
Scorecard

Arindam Das and Kiran Powar stroked contrasting half-centuries for East Zone as the Duleep Trophy final hung in the balance at the end of the second day at Mohali. Arindam provided the stability after the loss of some early wickets, while Powar clattered the bowling after a middle-order slump. East Zone were only 43 adrift by the end, and Powar, whose brother Ramesh was recently included in India's one-day squad, remained unbeaten with a crucial 69.

There were some other good performances, too. Ashish Nehra proved his fitness with four spells of disciplined bowling, and extracted some decent bounce as the day wore on. After North Zone had folded for 330 in the morning, with Shib Shankar Paul finishing with 5 for 83, the attention shifted to Nehra and his untested limbs. His first spell was of eight overs - more of a loosener than anything else - but his accuracy ensured that it cost him only 13 runs. Even MS Dhoni (21), who was trying to smash every ball, couldn't get him away.

Nehra enticed Shiv Sundar Das (12) to fiddle at a slightly wide one, and Aakash Chopra easily pouched the catch at second slip (44 for 2). Nehra changed ends for his next two spells, but remained tight, conceding just ten runs from his next five overs. It was now that he managed to unsettle the batsmen with that bounce. And at the end of the day, he tilted the balance in North Zone's favour with an important wicket. After bowling 20 overs with no sign of discomfort, Nehra should now have booked his ticket to Pakistan.

Early on, Rohan Gavaskar was adjudged lbw to a ball that appeared to be heading over the stumps, and at 46 for 3, East Zone were in a tricky spot. But Arindam and Devang Gandhi shared a valuable 93-run stand, eschewing all risks and stabilising the situation. Arindam was solid in defence, getting in behind the line most of the time, and he unfurled a few crisp cuts after reaching his half-century. He was given a life on 65, dropped at second slip by Chopra, but was soon undone by a dream ball by Sarandeep Singh.

Sarandeep's first wicket had come with the last ball of a soporific second session. Gandhi (42) suddenly got one that zipped and turned, and ended up gloving it to short leg (149 for 4). But the delivery that got Arindam ensured that everyone woke up. Slower through the air and drifting a shade away, it spun in viciously after pitching, sneaked through his defence and dislodged the bails (174 for 5) - an offspinner's delight.

Laxmi Ratan Shukla and Saurashish Lahiri fell trying to step up the scoring rate, and, still 130 adrift, East Zone needed a fighting partnership. Utpal Chatterjee hung in grimly while Powar drilled some fierce cuts. He latched on to anything short, and pierced the gaps effortlessly. He also nudged and nurdled, when the field was spread out, and showed great maturity in handling this nervy situation. Chatterjee wasn't as authoritative: he wafted at some wide ones, and edged a couple through the slips. This pair added 86 in quick time, to rescue East Zone from a perilous position. But Chatterjee fell to Nehra for 39 right at the end, which gave North Zone a slight edge.

Karsan Ghavri, East Zone's coach, wasn't too perturbed about first-innings honours. "Even if we concede the lead, it won't be more than 10 to 20 runs," he reasoned. "We can still come back in the second innings and get back into the game."