Alur (Karnataka), July 1 Left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar's impressive career-best figures of 8 for 64 helped Central Zone hammer East Zone by 170 runs and reach the semi-final of the Duleep Trophy 2023, here on Saturday.
Resuming from the overnight 69 for 6, East Zone could only play 12 overs and were bowled out for 129 in their second innings with Saurabh starring with the ball. The 30-year old spinner finished the game with 11 wickets, having taken 3 for 46 in the first innings.
Central will now face West Zone, the defending champions who had direct entry into the semi-final, which will be played from on July 5 in Alur.
Continuing his magic with the ball, Saurabh first trapped Riyan Parag lbw in the 34th over, before cleaning up Shahbaz Nadeem in the 38th. Four overs later, the spinner dismissed Akash Deep and Ishan Porel off successive deliveries to secure the win for Central Zone.
Akash Deep, who came to bat at No. 10 was the top scorer for East Zone in the second innings, with his entertaining 14-ball 24, which included three sixes off Saurabh.
Brief scores: Central Zone 182 (Rinku 38, Murasingh 5-42) and 239 (Mantri 68, Vivek 56, Porel 3-15, Shahbaz 3-66) beat East Zone 122 (Parag 33, Avesh 3-34, Saurabh 3-46) and 129 (Deep 24, Saurabh 8-64) by 170 runs.
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