North Zone enter semis

North Zone advanced to the semifinals of the Duleep Trophy by virtue of their 320-run first innings lead as the inconsequential fourth and final day's play ended with West Zone losing two wickets in their second essay. North's qualification to the last-four stage was virtually sealed on the penultimate day itself, after pacer Ishant Sharma and Amit Mishra grabbed seven wickets between them to shot out West for a mere 164 in their first innings on Monday.

North had amassed 484 all out in their first essay, with skipper and Man of the Match Shikhar Dhawan leading the way with a century, which vindicated his decision to bat first. Dhawan declared their second innings at 208 for seven in 67 overs this afternoon and West were on 69 for two in 29 overs.

While Dhawan made an impact in the second innings as well, scoring a half century, his opposite number Cheteshwar Pujara, after getting out cheaply in the first innings, remained not out in the second. Offspinner Kamlesh Makvana emerged as the best player from West, finishing with a 10-wicket haul — five in each innings.

Resuming at an overnight score of 30 for no loss, North openers Rahul Devan and Dhawan made 78 runs for the first wicket, before the former edged to Parthiv Patel. Devan made 45 off 104 balls. Dhawan fell six overs later but not before playing another substantial knock. His 50 contained eight fours. Faced with the impossible task of scoring 528 for a win in less than 50 overs, West lost openers Bhushan Chavan and Kustubh Pawar after they came out to bat the second time.

Brief scores: North Zone 1st innings: 484 & 208 for 7 decl in 67 ovs (R Dewan 45, S Dhawan 50; Makwana 5/80, Harmeet 2/41) vs West Zone 164 & 69 for 2 in 29 ovs (B Chauhan 20, K Pawar 20; A Mishra 1/28, V Mishra 1/36) North beat West on 1st innings lead

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