Welcome to the HIGHLIGHTS of the coverage of Day 4 of the Duleep Trophy final at the SNR College Cricket Ground in Coimbatore. This was Abhishek Saini, bringing you all the updates.
West Zone has one hand on the Duleep Trophy. Rahane & Co. is just four wickets away from victory. The day started with West batters continuing their innings and piling on more misery on the South Zone bowling attack which already looked hapless. Jaiswal got out for 265 runs before Het Patel walked out to take over the baton of attacking bowlers. Sarfaraz Khan completed his century on his debut and Rahane finally decided to declare the innings in the second session.
For South Zone, only Rohan Kunnummal impressed and held fort from one end. The wickets kept tumbling at regular intervals. Mulani got rid of Kunnummal as well in the last half hour of play to all but seal the contest for his team.
See you tomorrow for the last day of this contest.
COMMENTARY
SOUTH ZONE - 2ND INNINGS TARGET: 529 RUNS
Stumps update - South Zone 154/6 in 40 overs, needs 375 runs to win.
Kunnummal gone! Mulani with his second wicket. The lone fighter for South Zone departs. He rocks back and tries to make room to cut the ball, but the good length delivery remains straight and strikes the off stump. South Zone 146/6.
Mulani breaks the partnership. Bhui presses forward to a delivery that pitches and moves away from him. This induces and edge and Rahane at slips completes a brilliant, low catch. Umpires refer the decision to the third umpire who outs his hand on the red light indicator. South Zone 139/5.
South Zone 130/4 in 31 overs: Chintan Gaja is brought back into the attack and he gives away 9 runs in the over which includes four runs via a splendid cut off the back foot by Ricky Bhui. Mulani continues with his disciplined stump to stump line and prevents any shot scoring chance for batters. Gaja’s second over in this spell is much better. He starts with a bouncer before enticing Kunnummal to a false shot. A maiden over.
South Zone 119/4 in 27 overs: Shams Mulani is brought into the attack. He lands one short to Bhui and the batter needs no invitation as he smashes it between extra cover and deep cover. Kunnummal gets a rare edge in Unadkat’s over but this too stays low and runs to the boundary. Kunnummal then tries to upper cut a bouncer but fails to connect.
South Zone 109/4 in 24 overs: Kunnummal continues his charge from one end and hits two boundaries in Kotian’s over. Ricky Bhui gets off the mark on the ninth delivery he faces.
South Zone: Kotian is testing the batters with the rough patches on the pitch. He gets the odd ball to bounce, along with an occasional delivery that skids on. Unadkat gets another one as he traps Manish Pandey plumb before the wicket. Pandey shuffled right in front of the stumps but the delivery moves in sharply and sees the end of his innings. South Zone is 91/4 now.
South Zone 89/3 in 19 overs: Kunnummal brings up his fifty with a gentle tap to deep mid wicket. He’s been lone fighter for South Zone in this innings. Pandey and Kunnummal have a 42-run partnership now, but South Zone still has 440 runs to chase.
South Zone 76/3 in 15 overs: Manish Pandey is the new man on crease after the Tea break. He gets a juicy low full toss first up from Atit Sheth and he drills it through mid wicket. Kunnummal hits Kotian for a six, followed by two cover drives, a straight drive and a punch off Sheth’s over.
Tea Update - South Zone 47/3: It keeps going downhill for South Zone. Atit Sheth has taken two wickets in two overs. He first gets Hanuma Vihari to play the wrong line and nick one behind to Patel. The next over, he bowls one wide to the new batter Indrajith who chases the ball and sends it straight into the hands of the point fielder. South Zone still 482 runs away while West needs seven wickets.
South Zone 39/1 in 10 overs: Kunnummal continues his display of fluent strokes. Gaja calls the keeper up to the sticks, and he asks for two slips and a gully at the same time. Kunnummal remains unfazed and flashes the ball past point for four.
First wicket for West Zone! South Zone 29/1: Agarwal intends to play the ball towards the on side and tries to close the face of the bat. But he’s too early on the shot and closes the face before the ball gets to him. A top edge lands up in the hands of Tanush Kotian who came running from mid off.
South Zone 29/0 in 6 overs: The opening pair starts off with positive intent. They’ve struck clean shots and kept a healthy run rate. There’s little to no swing on offer and Kunnummal and Agarwal have utilized that. Still a mountain to climb.
Rohan Kunnummal and Mayank Agarwal start the chase.
WEST ZONE - 2ND INNINGS
THAT’S IT! WEST ZONE DECLARES. It has piled on a massive 528-run lead. Rahane calls back his batters, giving his bowlers around 4 sessions and a half to pick 10 wickets and win the Duleep Trophy.
West Zone 585/4 in 127.5 overs: Het Patel joins the party and completes his fifty. The Gujarat batter has looked equally commanding against spin and pace. The partnership for the fifth wicket reaches 100, and the resignation looms over the South Zone players.
West Zone 559/4 in 125 overs: The toil continues for South Zone as Het Patel and Sarfaraz continue playing at the crease. Things look ominous as Shams Mulani is padded up in the dugout, waiting for his turn to bat. The lead crosses the psychological barrier of 500 runs with a boundary off a square drive from Patel.
West Zone 536/4 in 121 overs: Throwing caution to the wind. Sarfaraz gets down on one knee and slog sweeps Basil Thampi for six runs. The lead grows to 474 runs with a single next up, which Het Patel takes to 478 with a swipe between mid wicket and mid on.
Hundred for Sarfaraz Khan: Gowtham starts after Lunch and Sarfaraz straight away steps out and tonks the ball into the sight screen for six runs. Just three away from a hundred. The tryst with adventure continues when he hits a reverse sweep for two runs. A glance down to fine leg finally gets him to his hundred. Nervous 90s what?
Lunch update - West Zone 515/4 in 119 overs
West Zone 502/4 in 116 overs: Basil Thampi is introduced and Sarfaraz hangs back for the short delivery and just guides the ball from close to his body to the third man region for four runs. He moves to 82 with that shot. A back foot punch for two runs in the same over. Het Patel with a drive to beat the cover fielder to get another boundary.
West Zone 489/4 in 113 overs: Het Patel with a couple of jittery moments against the extra bounce on this wicket. But he breaks the shackles off a Sai Kishore delivery as he lofts the ball over mid off to gather four runs. Lead now at 432 runs.
Jaiswal OUT! Gowtham finally gets his man. Jaiswal dismissed on 265 runs. He is beaten by a flighted delivery. The batter takes a long stride forward and is outside the crease. Before he tries to get back inside the line, Bhui collects the ball on a second attempt and dislodges the bails. A great innings comes to an end.
West Zone 472/3: A clear intent to aggress by the two batters. First, Sarfaraz slog sweeps Krishnappa Gowtham to square leg for four runs. Then Jaiswal steps out and lofts the ball to long on for six runs. The partnership is now 154 runs.
West Zone 458/3 in 104 overs: Jaiswal yet again steps out of his crease and hits the ball to the long on boundary to collect four runs. He reaches his 250 with the shot. Jaiswal is foxed by the turn off a Gowtham delivery but Ricky Bhui misses the stumping. Another chance goes begging.
West Zone 450/3 in 101 overs: Sarfaraz reverse sweeps a delivery outside off and collects four runs. This also brings up his fifty. An identical shot on the very next ball. Daring cricket. Jaiswal has been using his feet well over the last few overs. The southpaw steps out and places the ball towards the fielders in the deep to complete singles. Sarfaraz dropped on 62. It goes from bad to worse for South Zone.
West Zone 431/3 in 97 overs: Jaiswal and Sarfaraz continue to pile on runs. The total has crossed 400 and the lead is also close to the figure. Sarfaraz Khan is nearing his 50.
West Zone 416/3 in 94 overs - Leads by 359 runs
West Zone 398/3 in 90 overs: Sarfaraz plays a shot in the air and the cover fielder leaps forward to grab the catch but is a little too far to get there in time. After three overs of spin, the second new ball is finally taken in the 89th over. And Day 4 brings the same cut shots from Jaiswal which end up edging over the slip cordon and running for four runs. The lead is now 341 runs.
West Zone 383/3 in 87 overs: Gowtham starts the day with a maiden over. The over if followed by a long discussion between the captain and Sai Kishore before the latter bowls his first over of the day. Jaiswal gets off the mark for the day with a sweep shot for four runs. Still no new ball for South Zone.
West Zone 376/3. Leads by 319 runs. Jaiswal and Sarfaraz Khan will walk out to extend their side’s lead.
WEST ZONE vs SOUTH ZONE PLAYING XI
WZ XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Priyank Panchal, Ajinkya Rahane (c), Shreyas Iyer, Sarfaraz Khan, Atit Sheth, Shams Mulani, Het Patel (wk), Tanush Kotian, Jaydev Unadkat, Chintan Gaja
SZ XI: Rohan Kunnummal, Mayank Agarwal, Baba Indrajith, Hanuma Vihari (c), Manish Pandey, Ricky Bhui (wk), Krishnappa Gowtham, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Basil Thampi, Telukupalli Ravi Teja, Cheepurapalli Stephen
DULEEP TROPHY FINAL, DAY 3 REPORT
Yashasvi Jaiswal (209 batting, 244b, 23x4, 3x6) hit a turbocharged double-hundred, his second of the tournament, as West Zone flattened South Zone on the third day of the Duleep Trophy final at the SNR College Cricket Ground in Coimbatore on Friday.
The Ajinkya Rahane-led side was 319 runs ahead in the contest after plundering 376 in just 83.1 overs against a hapless South Zone attack. The West Zone batters built on the impetus provided by pacers Jaydev Unadkat and Chintan Gaja, who wiped out the tail in just 13 balls as South Zone folded for 327, eking out a 57-run first innings lead.
West Zone asserted its dominance with Jaiswal and Shreyas Iyer (71, 113b, 4x4, 2x6) adding 169 runs for the third wicket before a steady unbeaten 58-ball 30 by Sarfaraz Khan extended South Zone’s misery. In the only disappointment for West Zone, Rahane fell for 15, trapped in front by Krishnappa Gowtham, who got one to skid through and keep low.
Jaiswal maintained his tempo and a sense of occasion during his match-defining stay at the crease. He struck R. Sai Kishore for four at long-off to bring up his 235-ball double-hundred and leapt in the air. His 150 came off 159 balls with a ramp to the third man boundary, a late cut past the slip cordon heralded his 119-ball century and a six over long-off took him to a half-century off 56 balls.
Iyer weathered a familiar short-ball ploy when Basil Thampi, with a fine-leg, deep square-leg and short midwicket, was brought back into the attack. Iyer ducked compulsively, even misreading the length on a couple of occasions and fending awkwardly with his bat.
However, Vihari soon relented as Gowtham and Kishore bowled in tandem, playing into Iyer’s strength against spin. Even medium-pacer T Ravi Teja returned, Iyer ramped a short-ball to the third-man fence before reaching his fifty off 90 balls after Tea. He made a statement by pulling another short one from Thampi for a four at deep square-leg and then rocked back and meted out the similar treatment to a Kishore half-tracker with a maximum.
Just when it looked like Iyer had aced the matchup, he chipped one to the deep extra-cover fielder against the run of play, rewarding Kishore for the second time in the match.
Earlier, eager to end his run-drought (four runs in the last three innings), Jaiswal hit the ground running with a crisp drive through the covers for four off Thampi in the first over. When the pacer was taken off, he had leaked 33 runs in three overs with West Zone racing to 40 for no loss in six overs.
Fellow-opener Priyank Panchal (40, 64b, 4x6) was hassled by VC Stephen, who came around the wicket to beat the right-hander consistently with the new ball but looked at ease against Gowtham, giving the off-spinner the charge and hitting him for two fours.
Jaiswal maintained his tempo and a sense of occasion during his match-defining stay at the crease. He struck R. Sai Kishore for four at long-off to bring up his 235-ball double-hundred and leapt in the air. His 150 came off 159 balls with a ramp to the third man boundary, a late cut past the slip cordon heralded his 119-ball century and a six over long-off took him to a half-century off 56 balls.
Iyer weathered a familiar short-ball ploy when Basil Thampi, with a fine-leg, deep square-leg and short midwicket, was brought back into the attack. Iyer ducked compulsively, even misreading the length on a couple of occasions and fending awkwardly with his bat.
However, Vihari soon relented as Gowtham and Kishore bowled in tandem, playing into Iyer’s strength against spin. Even medium-pacer T Ravi Teja returned, Iyer ramped a short-ball to the third-man fence before reaching his fifty off 90 balls after Tea. He made a statement by pulling another short one from Thampi for a four at deep square-leg and then rocked back and meted out the similar treatment to a Kishore half-tracker with a maximum.
Just when it looked like Iyer had aced the matchup, he chipped one to the deep extra-cover fielder against the run of play, rewarding Kishore for the second time in the match.
Earlier, eager to end his run-drought (four runs in the last three innings), Jaiswal hit the ground running with a crisp drive through the covers for four off Thampi in the first over. When the pacer was taken off, he had leaked 33 runs in three overs with West Zone racing to 40 for no loss in six overs.
Fellow-opener Priyank Panchal (40, 64b, 4x6) was hassled by VC Stephen, who came around the wicket to beat the right-hander consistently with the new ball but looked at ease against Gowtham, giving the off-spinner the charge and hitting him for two fours.
- Dhruva Prasad
Here is the Wednesday with W.V.’s episode where W. V. Raman talks about India’s domestic cricket season:
WHERE TO WATCH DULEEP TROPHY 2022-23 FINAL LIVE?
The Duleep Trophy final between West Zone and South Zone will be broadcast by the Star Sports Network from 9:30 AM IST on September 21. The match will also be live streamed on Disney+ Hotstar app.
Comments
SHARE