Duleep Trophy final: Central Zone on the cusp of victory

Bengaluru: South Zone swept, drove, cut, sliced and blocked as they fought to live another day and take the Duleep Trophy final into the last day at the BCCI's Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru. 

A couple of late and decisive dismissals has Central Zone on the cusp of the championship as Ankit Sharma's valiant (99 off 168 balls) and Andre Siddarth's patient (84 not out off 190 balls) did just enough to take the game into day 5, setting Central Zone a paltry target of 65 runs for the crown.  

There were a few frustrated looks from the Central players, while there were lots of cheers and claps from the South dressing room from the start of the second session up to 4:30 pm. And then disaster struck. 

All of Ankit and Siddarth’s grit and gumption that sparked a glorious fightback was undone by a bizarre brainfade, where the Puducherry guest player miscued a flighted delivery off Kumar Kartikeya high up in the air, only into the hands of Rajat Patidar at midwicket. 

The dismissal triggered a mini collapse, and out of nowhere, South Zone went from 414/6 to 420 all out, with the hard work suddenly and irretrievably going downhill. 

Gurjapneet Singh (3), MD Nidheesh (0) and Vasuki Koushik (0) all came and went in a span of just under six overs. However, it could have been much worse for the hosts. 

When Ankit joined Siddarth in the middle, SZ were 222/6, still needing 140 runs to save a humiliating innings defeat. That is when they started to build a wall, which eventually turned into a fort to produce a partnership that South Zone desperately held onto. 

The duo put together 192, South’s best stand by a fair margin in the game. They absorbed all the pressure before reaching their respective fifties and then launched a calculated attack to thwart the tired bowlers. 

With every run from the deficit ticked off and as the partnership started to slowly grow, they also grew in confidence with their feet starting to move better. But a frantic 30 minutes of play flipped the script completely in Central’s favour. 

Earlier on, Deepak Chahar opened CZ’s push for the win in warm and sunny conditions. After a steady first nine overs, Ricky Bhui looked to flick one towards mid-on off Chahar, but the ball brushed the outside edge and went straight into Shubham Sharma’s hands at slip.  

With the skipper Mohammed Azharuddeen in, CZ were preying on his jittery start, waiting for a mistake. And it did come when he tried pushing one past short covers on 19. Patidar, however, didn't capitalise on the opportunity. He then committed another, trying to pull but hit it straight to short mid-wicket on 27. 

On the other side, sensing Ravichandran Smaran’s aggression gave Central the best hope of another breakthrough and he fell for the bait when Kartikeya flighted one, picking out the square leg fielder on 67. 

The game, however, could have taken a different turn if not for Central, who shelled three chances in the first session on the fourth day. 

However, just as it was in the first innings, Kartikeya and Saransh played the starring roles, bagging seven out of the 10 wickets.