Sairaj spins East to defeat in Duleep Trophy

A fine spell of 6/49 by Sairaj Bahutule hastened East Zone to an early demise in the Duleep Trophy fixture against West Zone at the Nehru Stadium, Pune, with over a day to spare.

East Zone, facing a mammoth total of 656/7 declared put up by West in its first innings, were bundled out for a paltry 132, in just 45 overs, thanks to a series of impressive strikes by Ajit Agarkar. The Indian opening bowler sliced through the East batting lineup, which was led by captain and India opener Shiv Sunder Das who alone provided some resistance with an innings of 38. Helping Agarkar in the demolition job was fellow India opening bowler Zahir Khan, who chipped in with 2/30. Agarkar returned 5/22 in just 14 overs.

Following on, East in its second innings was undone by the turning ball, once Siddiqui and Zaheer Khan had taken out the top three. Sairaj Bahutule then came up with a dream spell of 12.5 overs, to return figures of 6/49. In the second knock, number three bat Parida alone managed a respectable score of 41, before playing across the line of a Zahir Khan delivery that straightened on him to trap him LBW.

East Zone were bundled out for 161, the innings lasting just 2.5 overs more than the first essay.

From a more general point of view, Wasim Jaffer alone among the West batsmen failed to use the opportunity to impress selectors, going for a duck in the only innings he got to play. Similarly, Debashish Mohanty who thanks to his heroics in the previous outing had made it to the list of India probables, was tamed by the West batsmen, returning figures of 1/78 in the 26 overs he bowled in West's innings.

India opener Shiv Sunder Das also did his reputation no good, falling LBW to Siddiqui for 15 in the second innings to signal the start of the side's collapse.

East were without the services of India skipper Saurav Ganguly, who opted to skip this match.

Brief Scores:

West Zone: 656/7 declared (Sachin Tendulkar 199, Vinod Kambli 117, Rajesh Pawar 113 not out)

East Zone: 132 all out (Shiv Sunder Das 38, Ajit Agarkar 5/22, Zahir Khan 2/30) and 161 all out (R R Parida 41, Zahir Khan 2/34, Sairaj Bahutule 6/49).

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