SZ vs CZ | Yash, Kartikeya, and Saransh power Central to comfortable win in Duleep Trophy final

‌Central Zone won the Duleep Trophy after a gap of 11 years with a six-wicket win over South Zone in Bengaluru on Monday. Yash Rathod helped Central bat South out of the match with a mammoth 194, while spinners Kumar Kartikeya and Saransh Jain shared the spoils with the ball, picking up 16 of the total 20 wickets.

After opting to bowl first at the BCCI Centre of Excellence Ground, the Central new ball bowlers showed excellent discipline, giving away just 24 runs in the first 15 overs. South opener Mohit Kale tried to break the shackles when spin was introduced, but was cleaned up by left-arm spinner Kumar Kartikeya in his first over. South just lost their way after that, with spinners Kartikeya and Saransh working in tandem to plot the batters’ dismissals. Tanmay Agarwal was their top run-getter in the first innings, scoring 31 before bumping into his partner Ricky Bhui to get run out. Salman Nizar and Ankit Sharma tried to extend the South’s innings, but they were bowled out for just 149 in 63 overs. Off-spinner Saransh was the pick among the Central bowlers with figures of 5/49, while Kartikeya took 4/53.

Central got off to a good start with a 55-run partnership between Vidarbha batters Danish Malewar (53) and Akshay Wadkar. Though they slipped to 93/3 after that, captain Rajat Patidar and Yash Rathod joined hands to take Central past the South’s total. Patidar was the aggressor as he smashed 12 fours and two sixes during his knock of 101 off only 115 balls, while Rathod was happy to play second fiddle. The South nurtured hopes of bouncing back into the game when they dismissed Patidar and Upendra Yadav in quick succession, but Saransh once again turned their tormentor, this time with the bat. He scored a patient half-century (69 off 193) while adding 176 with Rathod as Central moved to a dominant position. Rathod’s marathon knock of 194, which included 17 fours and two sixes, finally ended after 286 balls as Central’s innings closed at 511, with an overall lead of 362 runs.

South put in an improved batting show, this time around, but it came a bit too late in the game. Ravichandran Smaran (67), Andre Siddarth, and Ankit Sharma scored gritty half-centuries to help their side to 426 in the second essay, but the target for Central was only 65. It would have been far worse for South, and they would have suffered the ignominy of an innings defeat, but for the partnership between Siddarth and Ankit. The pair added 192 for the seventh wicket, to make Central bat again. Siddarth hit seven fours as he remained unbeaten on 84 off 190 balls, while Ankit was unlucky to miss out on a well-deserved century. He hit 13 fours and a six before getting dismissed by Kartikeya for 99. The left-arm spinner finished with 4/110, and his Madhya Pradesh teammate chipped in with three wickets.

The Central top-order fumbled as they slid to 24/3 in pursuit of 65 as left-arm pacer Gurjapneet Singh and Ankit Sharma picked up two wickets each. But Wadkar and Rathod ensured there were no twists in the tale, finishing the game in the first session of the fifth day.

The winning moment!