North Zone need an almost improbable 378 runs on the final day to win their Duleep Trophy encounter against West Zone at the Nehru Stadium, Pune.

On Thursday, West Zone's two bowling stars, Irfan Pathan Junior and Sairaj Bahatule, removed the remaining two North Zone first innings wickets for the addition of just seven runs. The visitors eventual total of 238 gave West a healthy 158-run first innings lead. Pathan claimed four wickets while Bahatule claimed five.

The West second innings got off to a steady start; openers Wasim Jaffer and Connor Williams (29) adding 68 before the latter was out. Jaffer celebrated the news of his inclusion in the Indian squad for the West Indies with a second successive 50 before being dismissed for 58 off 84 balls. Skipper Hrishikesh Kanitkar also made a significant contribution, toting up 45 off 97 balls before falling to Ashish Nehra, another man who was savouring the news of his re-admission in the Indian Test squad.

The other top-order batsmen, however, struggled before Nayan Mongia gave vent to his anger at being dropped yet again, by making a fiery 76 off 76 balls with 11 fours and two sixes. West Zone, then, declared at 273 for nine, leaving North 432 to seal an outright win. Ashish Nehra, who claimed 4-55, was the most successful bowler for North

North, made a steady start, reaching 54 for no loss in the 12 overs before stumps with Akash Chopra batting on 25 and Vikram Rathour on 26.

© CricInfo