Aflurry of wickets brought North Zone back into the contest after Musheer Khan and Ruturaj Gaikwad struck fine half-centuries to put West Zone in control of their Duleep Trophy quarterfinal on the third day here on Tuesday.
Chasing 287 for victory, West Zone were cruising at 195 for three in their second innings when skipper Ruturaj (66 off 70 balls) was run out. That was the breakthrough North needed after a big partnership, and soon they got the wicket of a well-settled Musheer, who stroked his way to 96 off 126 balls.
At stumps, West Zone were 220 for seven with Urvil Patel batting on 17 and needing another 67 runs for victory.
Musheer was dismissed four short of what would have been a well-deserved century, having hit eight fours and two sixes, while skipper Gaikwad struck seven boundaries during his stay in the middle at the BCCI Centre of Excellence.
The pair had added 111 runs for the fourth wicket.
West Zone had begun their chase after North Zone, who had secured a 64-run first-innings lead, were bowled out for 222 in their second essay. Ayush Badoni (50) and Nishant Sindhu (44) were the main contributors with the bat for North Zone, as Tanush Kotian (4/46) and Shams Mulani 4/78 picked up the bulk of wickets for West.
Shivalik Sharma’s 28 was the only other substantial contribution for West in their second innings besides Musheer and Ruturaj.
North Zone had earlier made 251 in their first innings, with Anshul Kamboj’s counter-attacking 60 and Ayush Badoni’s 51 forming the bulk of their total. West Zone were then bowled out for 187, with J&K left-arm spinner Abid Mushtaq claiming five wickets for 39 runs.