Bhandari polished off the East tail

Mohali: Mithun Minhas turned out to be the unlikely hero as he spun North Zone to a 59-run victory over East Zone in the Duleep Trophy final at the PCA stadium here on Monday.

Minhas grabbed three for 15 with his part-time off-spin to bundle out East Zone for 349 on the fifth and final day and help his team claim the zonal title for a record 16th time.

Amit Bhandari, who had toiled hard and had been luckless for the major part of the match, chipped in with three for 71 as he polished off the East tail.

East, who were very much within the reach of a maiden title when they needed 196 runs with seven wickets in hand at the start of the day, were undone by the loss of three wickets in the space of 20 runs before lunch.

When first innings centurion Kiran Powar (97) dug out a simple catch to Dinesh Mongia at cover in the third over after the break, the trophy had slipped out of East’s hands.

Powar missed out on a century in each innings after being dismissed for 97 but his story echoed that of his team.

In a match that saw the pendulum swing from one side to the other constantly, East had good performances from more than one player but lost because they did not apply themselves at the crucial moments. The wicket of Devang Gandhi, coming in at the fall of nightwatchman Sourashish Lahiri, was a big blow to the visitors’ hopes. The captain looked edgy from the first ball he faced and his wild heave off Dinesh Mongia, to underedge a good catch to wicketkeeper Ajay Ratra, was only in keeping with his form of the day.

Minhas then struck his first blow when he broke through the defence of Shiv Sundar Das, who came in at No.7 after nursing his calf muscle tear during North’s second innings, off the very first ball.

Those two wickets changed the complexion of the game which seemed to be heading towards an East victory when Powar and Lahiri blunted the seamers.

The two played with abundant confidence and to a plan, working the ball through the gaps. Lahiri, with 27 from 85 balls, was beginning to upset North’s plans, and his six off Mongia over mid-wicket was the highpoint of East’s dominance.

Sarandeep Singh (two for 71) then gave the crucial breakthrough when he induced a bat-pad catch from Lahiri to end the 64-run stand for the fourth wicket.

After Powar’s dismissal, however, East batting disintegrated rapidly. Utpal Chatterjee went for a duck.

East have had a fantastic season, winning the Deodhar and reaching Duleep final.

(PTI)