Bengaluru, Aug 29 (IANS) Jammu and Kashmir fast bowling all-rounder Auqib Nabi produced a sensational spell, grabbing four wickets in four balls on the way to picking a five-for, as North Zone seized a commanding 175-run lead over East Zone on day two of the Duleep Trophy at the BCCI COE Ground 1 on Friday.

The day seemed to head towards a simple end until Nabi, on his Duleep Trophy debut, turned the game on its head to pick four wickets in four balls, as East Zone slipped from 200/4 to 223/9 and were eventually all out for 230 in 56.1 overs. In all, Nabi has become the fourth bowler to pick four wickets in four balls in first-class cricket.

In the morning, East Zone left-arm spinner Manishi finished with six wickets as North Zone were bowled out for 405 in 95.2 overs. Mayank Dagar was first wicket to fall when he nicked behind off Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal. Nabi survived some hostile bowling from Mohammed Shami and even pulled him for six, before being trapped lbw for 44 by Manishi, a knock laced with five fours and two sixes.

Kanhaiya Wadhawan went on to notch up his fourth first-class fifty and took North Zone past 400 before being trapped lbw by Manishi for 76 off 152 balls, after the left-arm spinner dismissed Harshit Rana in the same fashion and finished with impressive figures of 6-111 in 22.2 overs.

East Zone’s innings was off to a rocky start as Sharandeep Singh was castled by Arshdeep Singh, before Harshit Rana took out Sridam Paul and Utkarsh Singh. Riyan Parag hit 39 off 47 balls, including three fours and two sixes, before falling to Dagar. Virat Singh and Kumar Kushagra steadied East Zone with a 74-run stand, before the latter was dismissed by Nishant Sindhu.

The day looked for a sedate end, but Nabi had other ideas. In the 53rd over, Nabi ripped through East Zone’s middle and lower order in dramatic fashion – castling Virat, trapping Manishi lbw, and then castling Mukhtar Hussain to complete his hat-trick.

On the first ball of his next over, he had Jaiswal caught behind to make it four wickets in four balls and then trapped Shami lbw to complete an astonishing five-for and put North Zone in drivers’ seat.

Brief Scores: North Zone 405 in 95.2 overs (Kanhaiya Wadhawan 76, Ayush Badoni 63; Manishi 6-111, Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal 2-44) lead East Zone 230 in 56.1 overs (Virat Singh 69, Riyan Parag 39; Auqib Nabi 5-28, Harshit Rana 2-56) by 175 runs

–IANS

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