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East Zone's Manisankar Murasingh's five-wicket haul put East Zone in control on Day 1 of Duleep Trophy quarterfinal against Central Zone at KSCA Cricket Ground, Alur on June 28. Tripura's highest wicket-taker in Ranji Trophy 2022-23, took five wickets for 42 runs as Shivam Mavi-led Central Zone got all out for 182 from 71.4 overs.
Mavi won the toss and opted to bat first. The openers started off in cautious manner as they were vary of overcast conditions. Murasingh was accurate and he got rewarded for it with the breakthrough wicket of Vivek Singh who got castled. Then Ishan Porel got into the act as well and trapped Kunal Chandela in front of the wickets.
In the second session, East Zone skipper Abhimanyu Easwaran caught Himanshu Mantri short of the crease. He faced 92 deliveries to score 29 runs. Then left-arm spinner was introduced and he delivered with the wicket of Shubham Sharma. Rinku Singh and Upendra Yadav brought some calm to the crease. Rinku found boundaries too when a loose delivery was bowled. Then Central Zone lost three wickets in a matter of six deliveries.
The fifth wicket partnership was broken by Murasingh. He got two wickets in the 59th over. First to fall was Yadav who scored 25 runs from 60 balls. Then Saransh Jain got out lbw for a two-ball duck. In the next over, Rinku lost his wicket to Ahmed. Rinku was the highest individual scorer for Central Zone. The southpaw scored 38 runs from 58 deliveries including six fours.
Few overs later, Murasingh got the wicket of Saurabh Kumar as the batting collapse continued. Mavi remained unbeaten as Murasingh got the wicket of Avesh Khan to complete his fifer and Shahbaz Nadeem took an easy catch off his own bowling to dismiss Yash Thakur. Mavi remained unbeaten for 16 off 40 deliveries as Central Zone could manage 182 from 71.4 overs.
East Zone did not get off to a good start either. Easwaran who has been in the news for non-selection in the Test squad disappointed. He got out lbw to Avesh for a golden duck. Later in his spell, Avesh got rid of Shantanu Mishra in a similar fashion as well. Sudip Kumar Gharami was joined by nightwatchman Nadeem in the middle. East Zone ended the day with 32/2 from 12 overs, still trailing by 150 runs.
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