BENGALURU: Young all-rounder Harshit Rana showed his prowess as North Zone finished the opening day of its Duleep Trophy semi-final against South Zone on a high, after being bowled out for a paltry 198.
At stumps on Wednesday, South was precariously placed at 63 for four, with opener Mayank Agarwal batting on 37. Rain robbed at least an hour’s play in the third and final session.
The day’s hero was Delhi’s fast-bowling all-rounder Rana, whose quick-fire 31 off just 22 balls (4 fours, 2 sixes) at No.9 took North closer to the 200-run mark, which seemed a distant reality after the seventh wicket fell at 123.
Celebrating his maiden India A call-up, Rana (2/19) then bowled a brisk spell, castling South skipper Hanuma Vihari (0) with sheer pace and trapping Ricky Bhui (0) plumb in front off successive deliveries. This was after medium-pacer Baltej Singh (2/21) had removed B Sai Sudharsan (9) and Ravikumar Samarth (1).
Vihari’s decision to field first proved to be a good one as pacer Vidwath Kaverappa took 5/28. Joining forces at 18 for three, Prabhsimran Singh (49 off 52 balls, 6 fours, 1 six) and Ankit Kumar (33) stemmed the rot with a 79-run stand for the fourth wicket. Later, with North in a tight corner at 144 for eight, Rana and Vaibhav Arora (23 not out) added 29 runs for the ninth wicket. Arora then stitched another 25 invaluable runs in the company of Baltej (2) as North got close to the 200-run mark.
In his comeback red-ball match post a hamstring injury, off-spinning all-rounder Washington Sundar bowled nine overs, finishing with figures of 1/44.