Das, Shukla lead East fight back

East Zone were precariously placed at 354 for six on the third day of the Duleep Trophy league match against North Zone at the Ferozshah Kotla in Delhi.

Subomoy Das and Lakshmi Ratan Shukla led a spirited rear guard action, adding 78 runs for the unbroken seventh wicket stand in the post-tea session to defy the North bowling.

At close, Shukla was batting on 43 off 36 balls and Das on a well accumulated 56.

North bowling limitations were exposed of the lack of support for off-spinner Sarandeep Singh who claimed three for 100. Left arm spinner Rahul Sanghvi was just not cut out for the job. Though he claimed two wickets, he failed to plug the run flow and conceded 113 runs including ten no-balls.

Captain Mithun Manhas' was guilty of under bowling fast bowler Vineet Sharma. Sharma consistently troubled the batsmen on a placid pitch, but his labour went unrewarded.

East began the day on a positive note with their opening batsmen Parag Das and Devang Gandhi adding 106 runs for the first wicket.

But the introduction of Sarandeep spelt doom for East Zone as none of their batsmen showed neither the patience nor the skill to handle the Punjab off-spinner.

After the dismissal of Rashmi Ranjan Parida, the middle order batted as if their fate was predestined until Shukla and Das came together.

Mail Cricket Editor