North wary of confident East

North Zone will be wary of a spirited East Zone when the two square off in the semifinals of Duleep Trophy at the Ferozeshah Kotla here on Saturday.

East created a flutter when they beat a strong West Zone in the quarterfinals and have given themselves the hope of winning the elusive trophy for the first time. Their outright victory over West has forced the opponents to sit up and take notice.

Their pace battery, led by Ashok Dinda and Abu Nechim, has been effective with the new ball while centuries by skipper Natraj Behera and Anustup Majumdar against West will compel the North bowlers to ponder on a few things.

The return of Test wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha from Australia has added strength to the batting line up and he will look to make the most of the Kotla strip, which has a sprinkling of grass. The curator promised “good bounce and carry.”

“We are excited to be in the semifinals. We had a good win against West which has given us a lot of confidence. With Saha now back, it has given us further boost. We have been playing as a team, which has worked for us,” Behara said. “We played with three seamers last time and it is likely that we will once again go with a three-pronged attack. The ball here stays low. We hope, it will help the fast bowlers.”
If the pitch remains true, North will be looking up to some incisive stuff from medium-pacers Parvinder Awana and Harshal Patel, who recently rocked Rajasthan in the Ranji Trophy semifinal.

Young left-arm spinner Vikas Mishra, too, is a player to watch out for and is rated high for his accuracy.

Haryana opener Rahul Dewan and Himachal Pradesh all-rounder Abhinav Bali, both Delhi boys, are also looking forward to the contest. Dewan and Bali have been in splendid form this season with an aggregate of 592 runs and 413 runs respectively.
North skipper Amit Mishra acknowledged East's performances but said his team has enough arsenal to rise to the challenge.