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In the first semi-final of Duleep Trophy 2026, East Zone registered a spectacular victory by defeating Central Zone. In the match, young batsman Vaibhav Suryavanshi made headlines with his explosive batting, but the Player of the Match award went to fast bowler Mukesh Kumar. Mukesh took seven wickets in both the innings combined. However, there was one statistic to his bowling which surprised the cricket fans. Mukesh bowled a total of 14 no-balls in the match.

He gave many extra runs due to no-balls, but kept the pressure on the central zone batsmen by taking wickets at important junctures. Ultimately these wickets proved important in East Zone's victory and Mukesh was chosen Player of the Match.

6 no-balls thrown in the first innings, 8 no-balls in the second.

Mukesh Kumar bowled 16 overs in the first innings of Central Zone and took three wickets for 56 runs. During this period, he also had 6 no-balls and one wide in his account.

The problem of extra balls continued in the second innings also. Mukesh sent four batsmen to the pavilion for 44 runs in 12 overs, but bowled 8 no-balls and two wides during this period. In this way his number of no-balls in the match reached 14.

For a fast bowler, so many no-balls in a single first-class match is certainly a matter of concern. Despite this, Mukesh proved to be the most effective bowler in terms of taking wickets. Including three wickets in the first innings and four wickets in the second innings, he took a total of seven wickets.

Both teams scored 266 runs in the first innings

In the match, Central Zone batted first and scored 266 runs. Rinku Singh played a half-century innings for the team, while Aryan Juyal contributed 46 runs.

In response, East Zone was also reduced to exactly 266 runs in its first innings. Young Vaibhav Suryavanshi batted brilliantly here and scored 92 runs. Apart from him, Abhimanyu Easwaran also contributed a half-century.

During this innings, Vaibhav also made the record of being the youngest to score a half-century in Duleep Trophy. At the age of just 15, his batting on the big domestic stage of red-ball cricket attracted a lot of attention.

Central zone disintegrated in front of Mukesh in the second innings

After the score remained equal in the first innings, the match completely depended on the performance of the second innings. Here Mukesh Kumar played a big role for East Zone with the ball. Thanks to his four wickets, Central Zone's second innings was reduced to just 158 ​​runs.

East Zone got the target of 159 runs to win. Vaibhav Suryavanshi once again made a fast start and scored 40 runs in 43 balls. After his dismissal, the match became exciting for some time and the Central Zone bowlers tried to make a comeback by taking wickets continuously.

Ishan Kishan took charge, led East Zone to victory

Despite wickets falling from one end, captain Ishan Kishan maintained his composure. He played an important inning of 39 runs on 41 balls and played an important role in helping the team reach the target. East Zone scored 159 runs losing six wickets and won the match.

After the match, Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Mukesh Kumar appeared to be two strong contenders for Player of the Match. Vaibhav scored 132 runs in both the innings, while Mukesh took seven wickets. Ultimately this award was given to Mukesh who had a big impact on the match with the ball.

However, being named player of the match despite 14 no-balls makes his performance interesting. Seven wickets show his wicket-taking ability, while bowling so many no-balls is an aspect he needs to work on in terms of bowling discipline.