Duleep Trophy Live: West Zone look for big total after bowling out North for 251

• Musheer Khan 14 (65)
• Ruturaj Gaikwad 0 (5)

Who will win the match?

How many wickets will NZ take in this innings?

• Ruturaj Gaikwad 0 (5)
• Musheer Khan 14 (59)

• Ruturaj Gaikwad 0 (4)
• Musheer Khan 13 (54)

• Musheer Khan 13 (54)
• Shivalik Sharma 22 (34)

• Musheer Khan 13 (52)
• Shivalik Sharma 21 (30)

Kamboj ultimately prevented North from being bowled out for a far smaller total, producing an aggressive 60 off just 52 balls. His innings included five fours and five sixes as he took the attack to the West Zone bowlers and pushed North beyond the 250 mark.

North’s late fightback gave their bowlers something to defend, but West Zone also lost two wickets before the close and finished the opening day at 31/2. The match therefore remains delicately poised despite West Zone’s dominant bowling effort.

Ayush Badoni provided North with one of the few substantial contributions, scoring a fluent 51 while looking comfortable against both pace and spin. His dismissal, however, triggered another downturn as North’s lower order failed to offer sustained resistance.

With the top and middle order unable to convert promising starts, the pressure mounted on the tail and West Zone’s bowlers made full use of the opportunity to finish the innings.

North’s team selection also raised eyebrows, particularly the decision to leave out opener Sanat Sangwan after he had scored more than 800 runs in the Ranji Trophy.

The absence of Sangwan became increasingly difficult to overlook as North’s batting struggled once the initial momentum disappeared. Yash Dhull also endured a difficult outing, with the former India U-19 captain looking uncomfortable against both Kotian and Mukesh Choudhary before Shardul Thakur eventually dismissed him.

Kotian’s key breakthrough came when he removed a stubborn Ayush Doseja for 42. Doseja had helped North build a solid platform, but Urvil Patel took the catch to give Kotian his first major success.

The off-spinner returned later to clean up the tail, while Deshpande maintained pressure with brisk pace and ran through North’s middle order. Their combined effort turned a promising North innings into a collapse, with the side losing seven wickets for just 103 runs after reaching 117/2.

Kotian’s four-wicket haul was particularly significant given his recent fall down the pecking order. The all-rounder had been called up as Ravichandran Ashwin’s replacement during India’s 2024-25 tour of Australia, although he did not get a game.

He also toured England with India A in 2025, but an indifferent 2025-26 Ranji Trophy season saw Saransh Jain move ahead of him and earn a Test cap. Kotian responded in style on Sunday, opening the bowling before returning later to make a telling impact.

Tushar Deshpande and Tanish Kotian produced a superb bowling display as West Zone bowled out North Zone for 251 on the opening day of their Duleep Trophy match at the Centre of Excellence.

Deshpande returned figures of 4/57, while off-spinner Kotian claimed 4/72 as West Zone fought back strongly after North had reached a comfortable 117/2. North’s innings lost momentum rapidly thereafter, slipping to 220/9 before Anshul Kamboj launched a counterattack to push the total beyond 250.

• Shivalik Sharma 21 (30)
• Musheer Khan 13 (46)

• Shivalik Sharma 19 (26)
• Musheer Khan 12 (44)