Yusuf Pathan’s name does evoke the memory of that six off Mohammed Asif in the Twenty20 final, but the Baroda player has moved ahead since. His all-round ability makes him an asset for any captain. And with an all-rounder forever wanting in an ODI squad, he adds an option in the national selectors’ list. If in the last match he murdered the Central Zone bowlers with his 66-ball 107, today here at the Motibaug ground, the off-break bowler spun a web around England Lions’ batsmen to grab his seventh five-wicket haul in first class cricket, and thereby helped West Zone enter the final of the Duleep Trophy. With West needing an outright victory to make the final, they needed a bowler on the final day to put his hand up and deliver. And they found two in Yusuf (5/35) and right-arm medium pacer Siddharth Trivedi ((4/28). The duo combined to fold up the Lions’ second essay for just 165 runs. West won by nine wickets as they reached the target of 27 runs losing the only wicket of first innings’ centurion Ajinkya Rahane.The 25-year-old Yusuf bowled flatter and quicker as the Lions’ batsmen struggled against him on a slow and low track. His first victim of the day was Michael Carberry whom he trapped in front of the wicket. He kept taking wickets at regular intervals on a pitch which started assisting spinners from third day onwards. His wicket of Adil Rashid (39) completed his five-for figures. The wicket also marked the end of Lions’ innings. “He bowled well. His deliveries turned and turned quickly,” said Lions skipper Michael Yardy.If the wicket assisted Yusuf, it was not so for Trivedi. The Gujarat bowler had to toil hard for his scalps. He had to do something different. He hit the deck hard as the ball kept low. “I knew if I hit it hard with the ball keeping low, I may get batsmen bowled or trapped in front of the wickets. There was also some reverse swing,” said Trivedi.The medium fast bowler got three leg-before decisions in his favour, including last evening’s wicket of Yardy.Resuming at 14/1, Lions never looked in a position on the fourth day from where they could salvage a draw by playing out the day. Except for Ed Joyce (66, 9X4) and Rashid, no other batsman could put up a fight. The only other batsman to reach double figure was Carberry (17).The English side were, however, disappointed for losing the initiative after putting themselves in a strong position at the end of Day One when they were 273 “It’s disappointing to lose. But credit to West Zone players for they came back strongly. We should have got more runs on board in the first innings,” said Yardy.West now take on North in the final in Mumbai, beginning on February 19.Brief scores: England Lions 355 & 165 (Ed Joyce 66, Adil Rashid 39; Yusuf Pathan 5/35, Siddharth Trivedi 4/28) vs West Zone 494 & 28 for 1 (Sahil Kukreja not out 12, Cheteshwar Pujara not out 9; Graham Onions 1/19)VRV stars again•Meanwhile, North Zone defeated East by 433 runs at Madhavrao Scindia Stadium in Rajkot to reach the final. On the final day, North bowlers bundled out East’s second innings for 243 runs with VRV Singh, who claimed five wickets in the first innings, being the pick of the bowlers once again with 3 scalps. Leggie Amit Mishra picked two.East’s Manish Vardhan (83) and Anustup Majumdar (82) were the only batsmen to offer resistance as the duo put on 168 runs for the fourth-wicket partnership. Brief scores: North Zone 360 & 459 for 2 declared vs East Zone 143 & 243 (Manish Vardhan 83, Anustup Majumdar 82; VRV Singh 3/46, Amit Mishra 2/37).
