East Zone thrash North East Zone in Duleep Trophy quarter-final
What's the story
In a one-sided display, East Zone thrashed North East Zone by an innings and 210 runs in the 2026 Duleep Trophy quarter-final in Bengaluru. The star of the match was Shahbaz Ahmed, who scored a career-best 167 runs and took four wickets across both innings. His stellar performance helped East Zone post a mammoth first-innings total of 467. The side bowled out NEZONE for 111 before enforcing a follow-on to dismiss them again for 146.
Match details
Two centurions for East Zone
Shahbaz's 167 came off 244 balls and included 17 fours and 4 sixes. He was the highest scorer in the match, helping East Zone establish a massive first-innings lead.
East Zone were staring at a collapse at 138/5. Coming in at No. 7, Shahbaz added a 150-run stand with Sudip Kumar Gharami.
Sudip also contributed with a brilliant knock of 146 off 185 balls, including 25 fours and a six.
Bowling brilliance
Abhijit K Sarkar takes fifer
East Zone's bowlers were relentless, with Abhijit K Sarkar doing most of the damage by taking five wickets for just 20 runs in under 10 overs.
Mohammed Shami returned wicketless, while Shahbaz chipped in three wickets. Anukul Roy and Mukesh Kumar also took a wicket each.
The North East batting lineup crumbled under pressure, with Arpit Subash Bhatewara top-scoring with 32 and captain Rongsen Jonathan contributing 21.
Second innings
Anukul Roy's second-innings fifer
In their second innings, North East Zone showed some resistance but still fell short.
Pheiroijam Jotin top-scored with 39 runs while Akash Choudhary and Kishan Lyngdoh contributed 27 and 25 runs, respectively.
Anukul was the pick of the bowlers, taking five wickets for 37 runs in 15 overs.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who was earlier dismissed for 8 (6), also impressed with two wickets in three overs.
Numbers
A look at notable numbers
According to Cricinfo, Shahbaz Ahmed slammed his third century in First-Class cricket. He has raced to 2,493 runs from 43 FC games at an average of 44.51.
Meanwhile, Sudip completed his ninth century in red-ball cricket.
Taking his eighth five-wicket haul, Anukul Roy is closing in on 150 First-Class wickets.
Abhijit K Sarkar now has 5 fifers in the format.