North Zone advanced to the semi-finals of the Duleep Trophy by virtue of a 320-run first innings lead as the match ended in a tame draw, after West Zone lost two wickets in their second essay on the fourth and final day, in Chennai, on Tuesday.
North's qualification to the last-four stage was virtually sealed on the penultimate day itself, after pacer Ishant Sharma and Amit Mishra grabbed seven wickets between them to shot out West for a mere 164 in their first innings on Monday.
North had amassed 484 all out in their first essay, with skipper and man of the match Shikhar Dhawan leading the way with a century, which vindicated his decision to bat first.
Dhawan declared their second innings at 208 for seven in 67 overs on Tuesday afternoon, and West were on 69 for two in 29 overs when the match was called off at the start of the mandatory overs.
While Dhawan made an impact in the second innings as well, scoring a half century, his opposite number Cheteshwar Pujara, after getting out cheaply in the first innings, was unbeaten in the second.
Off-spinner Kamlesh Makvana emerged the best player from West, finishing with a 10-wicket haul -- five in each innings.
Resuming at the overnight score of 30 for no loss, North openers Rahul Devan and Dhawan played freely, scoring 78 runs for the first wicket, before the former edged to Parthiv Patel. Devan scored 45 off 104 alls.
Dhawan fell six overs later, but not before playing another substantial knock.
Makvana teased Dhawan, who missed the line of the ball and was stumped. His fifty contained eight fours.
Faced with the impossible task of scoring 528 for victory in less than 50 overs, West lost openers Bhushan Chavan and Kustubh Pawar after they came out to bat the second time.
Scorecard
North Zone (1st innings): 484
West Zone (1st innings): 164
North Zone (2nd innings):
Rahul Dewan c Patel b Makwana 45
Shikar Dawan St Patel b Makwana 50
Sunny Singh b Harmeet 28
Nitin saini c Makwana b Harmeet 18
Mayank Siddana b Makwana 13
Paras Dogra not out 36
Rishi Dhawan st Patel b Makwana 10
Vikas Mishra not out 0
Extras: (B-1, LB-2, W-2) 5
Total: (for 7 declared wkts in 67 overs) 208
Fall of wickets: 1-78, 2-111, 3-131, 4-148, 5-176, 6-188, 7-204.
Bowling: Fallah 11-3-25-0, Vahora 6-2-17-0, Nayar 9-1-31-0, Makwana 23-2-80-5, Harmeet 14-2-41-2, Jadhav 4-1-11-0.
West Zone (2nd innings):
Bhushan Chauhan c Saini b Mishra 20
Pawar lbw Vikas Mishra 20
Rahane not out 15
Pujara not out 10
Extras: (NB-4) 4
Total (for 2 in 29 overs): 69
Fall of wickets: 1-42, 2-42
Bowling: Amit Mishra 14-3-28-1, Vikas Mishra 14-4-36-1, Paras Dogra 1-0-5-0.
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