Duleep Trophy: NZONE's Ankit Kumar records career-best 198
What's the story
North Zone captain Ankit Kumar was unfortunate to miss out on a double-hundred in the ongoing Duleep Trophy quarter-final clash against East Zone in Bengaluru. The Haryana opener played a 198-run knock in the third innings of the game as NZONE's place in the semi-final is all but certain. Notably, Ankit recorded his best score in First-Class cricket. Here are his stats.
Knock
A dominant knock from Ankit
NZONE's second innings went underway on Day 3. They started well with skipper Ankit and Shubham Khajuria (21) adding 54 runs for the first wicket. The former then found another prominent partner in fellow centurion Yash Dhull (133) as the duo added 240 runs. Ankit then stitched a 150-run partnership with Ayush Badoni before being dismissed for 198.
Information
Career-best score for Ankit
Ankit's 198 came off 321 balls as he smoked 19 fours besides a six. His previous best score in FC cricket read 174. Meanwhile, Ankit made 574 runs at 44.15 in the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy.
Stats
Hundreds in three successive games for Ankit
Ankit has now scored hundreds in three successive FC games. The Haryana batter scored 136, 11, and 118 in his last three innings in the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy. Overall, this was his sixth FC ton. The opener has raced to 2,379 runs from 37 games at 38-plus (50s: 10). Notably, he was out for 30 in his first outing of the match.
Summary
What happened in the first two innings?
Day 2 of the contest saw NZONE finish their first innings at 405/10. Ayush Badoni (63) and Kanhaiya Wadhawan (76) made fifties as Manishi claimed six wickets. EZONE, in response, finished the day at 230/10 thanks to a fifer from Auqib Nabi. Virat Singh (69) was the only EZONE batter with a 50-plus score. Ankit's double-ton has now taken NZONE's lead past 600 runs.
DYK
NZONE's semi-final berth almost confirmed
With less than 80 overs left in the game, a chase of 600-plus runs in the fourth innings is highly unlikely for East Zone. Even if NZONE don't manage to take all 10 wickets in the final innings, they will go through the semis on the basis of a first-innings lead.