East Zone Under-16s were 219/3 at close of play on the second day against North Zone Under-16s in the final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy at the Rajinder Singh Institute Ground, Bangalore, on Friday.

North Zone resumed at 398/7 and played on for another 23 overs, before being bowled out for 491. Gaurav Gupta remained unbeaten on 177 made off 250 balls including a six and 24 boundaries.

Captain A Iqbal claimed the wickets of Abhishek Sharma (25) and Ankur Jund (0). Gupta and Sharma shared an eighth wicket partnership of 98 runs in 21.1 overs.

Last man Puneet Sharma (0) held on for 15 balls before being trapped lbw by SK Ray. Iqbal was easily the best of the bowlers with the figures of 33-10-110-5.

East Zone got off to a steady start with R Mohanty (48 with 8 fours) and M Biswas putting together 68 runs for the first wicket. A Garai and Biswas then added 56 runs for the second wicket, before Biswas was bowled by A Bali. Biswas made 45 off just 49 balls with the help of nine boundaries.

SP Priyadarshan (38) struck five fours and a six in his 94-ball innings adding 65 runs for the third wicket with Garai. At close of play Iqbal (7) was batting with a resilient Garai (66). Garai has so far faced 193 balls, striking nine fours in his 206-minute stay at the crease. Bali has been the most successful bowler, taking 2/59.

© CricInfo