North East Zone lost four wickets on 111, and by stumps they were batting again
Four North East Zone wickets fell on the same score in Bengaluru, and they were following on by the close. In the other quarter-final, Abid Mushtaq’s 5 for 39 put North Zone 171 ahead.
Aug 24, 2026
North East Zone were 106 for 6 in their Duleep Trophy quarter-final against East Zone on Monday, which was already a bad position. Then four wickets fell on the same score. Imliwati Lemtur, Rongsen Jonathan, Akash Choudhary and Bishworjit Konthoujam were all dismissed with the total on 111, the innings lasted 42.5 overs, and by the end of the day North East Zone were batting again, 349 behind.
Abhijit Sarkar took five for 20
Abhijit Sarkar did most of the damage. The right-arm seamer bowled 9.5 overs, two of them maidens, and finished with 5 for 20 at the BCCI Centre of Excellence ground in Bengaluru. Three of his five came in the collapse at the end.
Shahbaz Ahmed took the other end apart with 3 for 20 from ten overs, four of which were maidens. Mukesh Kumar and Anukul Roy took one each. Mohammed Shami bowled nine overs for 36 without a wicket and did not need one.
Arpit Bhatewara top-scored for North East Zone with 32 off 76 balls. Nobody else passed 21. When they followed on they got through a single over before bad light ended the day, Joseph Lalthankhuma on 6.
Shahbaz made 167 as well
Shahbaz had spent the first day and a half building the total he then defended. He was 100 not out when rain ended play on Sunday and he carried on to 167 off 244 balls with 17 fours and four sixes, out last as East Zone were bowled out for 467.
Sudip Kumar Gharami made 146 off 185 with 25 fours before that, and the two of them added 150 for the sixth wicket after East Zone had lost half their side for 138. Kumar Kushagra made 55, Anukul Roy 37. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi lasted six balls for 8 and Ishan Kishan, the captain, made 4.
Akash Choudhary and Pheiroijam Jotin took three wickets each for North East Zone, and Jotin’s 22 overs for 64 was the tightest spell of the innings by some distance.
Abid Mushtaq bowled 10 maidens in 25
The other quarter-final is tighter, though not by much. West Zone were bowled out for 187 in reply to North Zone’s 251, and the man who did it was Abid Mushtaq, whose 25.4 overs of slow left-arm brought 5 for 39 with ten maidens in them.
Ruturaj Gaikwad went lbw for 5. Urvil Patel went lbw for a two-ball duck. Prithvi Shaw had made a quick 22 off 21 before Mushtaq bowled him, and Musheer Khan spent 126 balls over 31. Only Shams Mulani, with 52 off 94, held anything together. Arshdeep Singh took 3 for 53.
North Zone then went at more than five an over in the evening, reaching 107 for 4 in 21 overs before bad light took them off with a lead of 171. Ayush Badoni was 39 not out, Abdul Samad made 30, and Mulani and Tanush Kotian took two apiece.
Who they are playing for
Central Zone and South Zone are already in the semi-finals, which start on 30 August in Bengaluru. The two winners here join them, and the final is in Chennai from 6 September. Both quarter-finals have two days left, and on the evidence of Monday neither is likely to need all of it.