Duleep Trophy 2023 HIGHLIGHTS Final Day 4: West Zone 116 away from win, South needs 5 wickets on final day

LIVE SCORE - West Zone vs South Zone Final Day 5

Light meter is out. Badlight say umpires and the players are walking off the field. It’ll be Stumps on day 4.

An exciting final day tomorrow where West Zone will need 116 runs to win the Duleep Trophy while South Zone will require five wickets. West captain Priyank Panchal us unbeaten on 92 along with new batter Atit Sheth.

Sarfaraz Khan OUT! Sai Kishore gets the breakthrough as he clean bowls dangerous looking Sarfaraz for 48. A partnership of 98 runs between Sarfaraz and Panchal for the fifth wicket gets broken. West still needs 121 runs to win.

A loud appeal for LBW against Priyank Panchal but the umpire gives it not out. South looks convinced and reviews it. Too close to call but seems like an inside edge but the bat is also hitting the pad at the same time. The decision stays due to inconclusive evidence. Not Out.

Sarfaraz needs a bit of medical attention. The physio out. Nothing serious though and game resumes shortly.

Panchal is nearly castled by a delivery that keeps low. It misses the stumps, the keeper and his helmet lying behind him. Six runs from the over as the West run rate has seen a rise over the past five overs.

Sarfaraz Khan taking on Washington Sundar. Brilliant use of sweep shots and another seven-run over for West.

Washington Sundar introduced in the 53rd over and is welcomed by Sarfaraz Khan with a six over mid-wicket. He concedes seven runs off his first over.

Drinks break.

A drab couple of overs for West Zone save for the four byes that came off Vyshak’s over.

Hanuma Vihari finally bringing in Washington Sundar to bowl.

After seeing Sarfaraz late cut on multiple occasions, South have placed a third man fielder for him.

In Vyshak’s over, he fails to step away from bouncer and is hit on a helmet. No harm done, though.

Sarfaraz and Panchal building a steady partnership to stabilise the innings. West Zone still 186 away from the target.

Panchal, as he tries to get his team home, reaches a personal landmark as well.

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Sarfaraz Khan picks a FOUR and a couple through the third man region. He played a late cut on both occasions. And with that the West total ticks past 100 runs.

Sai Kishore starts with a maiden over.

Koushik comes from the other end. Panchal and Sarfaraz take a single each from the over. West now exactly 200 away from the target.

Sarfaraz Khan on strike to face Sai Kishore as play resumes after Tea.

We’ve reached the end of the second session. 84 runs scored in the over while South was able to pick three wickets. It was all going West’s way when Panchal and Pujara were looking rock solid. Pujara, and then Suryakumar Yadav were sent packing by V Koushik and that tilted the match and the session in South’s favour. Panchal brought up his fifty shortly after, and the West captain now has a task at his hands.

Priyank Panchal gets to 50! He’s taken his time, he’s faced spells where he could not connect to the ball but despite all, he’s continued to hold one end. The innings now stands on his shoulders. The captain has to take his team home.

Sarfaraz Khan gets a reprieve. He wants to take a quick single and sets off. He is half way down the pitch when Panchal sends him back. Sachin Baby gets to the ball, and all he needs to do is throw it to the keeper. The throw, however, flies way over the keeper’s head and Khan gets time to get back.

Kaverappa’s final delivery of the over goes for four byes. Sarfaraz Khan, the new batter, looked eager to get off strike but was unable to. The South Zone close in fielders are jumping onto the ball and adding pressure.

Suryakumar Yadav is gone! It’s a nip backer from Koushik and Sky misses the line. Given leg before and reviews the decision.

The impact shows umpire’s call but that will not be enough to overturn the decision. Koushik has struck gold for South Zone.

Pujara falls. South Zone has the wicket it wanted. Pujara gets a faint inside on to his thigh pad and the ball lobs up into the air. The short leg fielder takes a simple catch. Koushik gets the big fish.

Pujara has been getting a few deliveries on his body line off late. Vyshak is the one who has been aiming for that line. Pujara is more than happy to duck and let the ball pass to the keeper.

Panchal survives. The umpire adjudged him leg before off Sai Kishore’s bowling. He went for a review straight away and the replay shows a clear inside edge onto the pad.

Sai Kishore is getting turn and bounce. He’s flighting the ball as well to exploit it. Panchal was nearly a victim in the previous over as he tried to drive a delivery. The turn and bounce took the ball away from him, beating his edge too. The West skipper is just six short of a fifty.

A 50 partnership between Priyank Panchal and Cheteshwar Pujara. Panchal gets a short delivery from Vyshak and he pulls it to the boundary. There was a short leg fielder placed for that shot but Panchal’s connection was clean which helped in beating the man.

Two perfectly timed shots by Panchal. First one is stopped by a terrific fielding effort by Sachin Baby at the covers but on the next ball the same shot goes for four. Too full by Kaverappa on both the occasions.

Finally some spin. R Sai Kishore into the attack in the 25th over of the innings.

Panchal slashes hard at a wide delivery. The ball beats the slip cordon and runs away to the third man boundary.

West’s run rate goes past 2 runs per over. Kaverappa strayed onto the pads in his previous over. Pujara collected three runs with a flick through mid wicket. Still 256 needed for the defending champion.

Cheteshwar Pujara gets off the mark. He gets an overpitched delivery from Koushik and he uses his wrists to caress it beyond mid on.

Panchal with two outworldly drives in Vyshak’s over. A cover drive and an on drive on consecutive deliveries. The run rate also got a bit of an uptick with that.

For the umpteenth time, Koushik induces a false shot from Panchal. He’s getting the ball to nip away from the right-hander and Panchal’s has had all sorts of discomfort against him.

Vyshak strikes. Harvik Desai shuffles across and wants to clip a full length delivery. Misses the shot entirely and is given leg before. The DRS too shows the ball just clipping the leg stump. West Zone in trouble.

DROPPED! Priyank Panchal drives off Koushik but can only get an edge. Hanuma Vihari goes for the low catch at second slip. The ball was too low, Vihari got a hand to it but could not keep it in. A life for Panchal.

Panchal finally decides to go for a cover drive. Beats the fielder too. The first FOUR of the innings. Earlier in Vyshak’s over, Desai cut an uppish delivery to collect a single.

Koushik starts with a maiden over. Priyank Panchal continues his blockathon. West Zone still 286 away from the target.

Harvik Desai is the new batter and he too has looked tentative to the lateral movement. He ends the session at two from 12 deliveries. Panchal still preferring to leave deliveries undisturbed and letting them pass to the keeper. He’s played 28 deliveries and managed only two runs. West 286 away from the target.

Shaw is OUT! Played on. He seemed confused as to what shot to play. In the end, he is too slow to get the bat down in time. The ball takes a thick under edge and hits the stumps. V Koushik with the wicket.

A slow start for West. Kaverappa and Koushik have troubled the batters with movement off the seam. Runs, hence, have been hard to come by. Shaw on four off 13 while Panchal on one from 17 balls.

V Koushik finds a fair bit of lateral movement. He beats the edge of Panchal on a couple of occasions.

Kaverappa is on the money. Keeps it in the corridor of uncertainty. Shaw gets off the mark with a jab to deep backward point. Panchal shoulders arms to the three deliveries he faces in the over.

Prithvi Shaw faces Vidwath Kaverappa in the first over. He is partnered by Priyank Panchal.

That’s the ask. More than five sessions at West’s disposal to get to the target. It surely has the batting prowess in its order to chase it down. But a day 4 pitch that is keeping low and offering turn should make it a challenge. An enticing 4th innings on offer.

Jadeja gets a fifer. The 18th of his career. V Koushik pokes at a delivery which turns away from him. Takes an edge on the way and Harvik Desai takes a low catch. South Zone leads by 297 runs.

Jadeja gets another one. Vyshak leans forward for a defence but misreads the line. The ball takes an inside edge, ricochets off the pad and goes into the hands of Panchal.

V Vyshak pulls out a slog sweep from his armoury. Hits a boundary in Mulani’s over and then runs three. South just five short of having its lead cross 300.

Washington Sundar is LBW! Unlucky to be honest. The ball stays low, passes from under his bat and thuds onto his pads. Jadeja gets his third wicket.

Right on cue, Mulani bowls on over. Just his sixth over in the innings and he concedes two runs.

Washington Sundar farming the strike. Dharmendrasinh Jadeja is keeping one end firm and not conceding runs but he needs support from the other end.

Maybe time to bring Shams Mulani into the attack.

Sundar is steadily pushing the West total forward. He punched another good length delivery to the on side for FOUR. Batting on 33 off 61 at the moment.

Sundar finds two FOURs in Nagwaswalla’s over. The first is a clip to sqaure leg where a misfield from Jadeja aids his cause. The second is a punch down the ground.

South Zone has already scored 29 today and is racing towards a 300 run lead.

Chance! Sundar goes for a slog sweep against Jadeja. The ball loops up into the air and Panchal chases it from mid on. The West captain annot get to it and the batters complete two runs. FOUR! On the final ball, Sundar clears his leg, gets to the pitch and hits it to the long off fence.

Arzan Nagwaswalla is brought into the attack. He deploys the bouncer barrage. Loud appeal for a catch on the first ball. Banged in short, Vyshak misses the pull and the ball hits his shoulder. Shaw collects the catch and West feels there was bat on it as well. Umpire denies and Panchal decides against a review.

Dharmendrasinh Jadeja from the other end. He beats the outside edge of Washington Sundar on the first delivery. The batter gets a single with a punch to long on.

Vyshak with a lofted drive. The ball hangs in the air but goes wide of the point fielder and runs to the fence.

Bright and sunny as the West Zone team makes it way to the field. Washington Sundar to resume his innings from 10 while V Vyshak is batting on one run. Chintan Gaja will bowl the first over of the day.

The Indian team for the Asian Games was announced on Friday and there were quite a few surprises.

Check out the full squad:

The chances of rain stand at 30% as of now with showers expected around the beginning of the third session.

South Zone tightened its grip on West Zone on the third day of its Duleep Trophy final at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Friday.

Handy contributions from Mayank Agarwal (35), Hanuma Vihari (42), Ricky Bhui (37) and Sachin Baby (28) pushed South to 181 in seven in the second innings, giving the side an overall lead of 248 runs.

Full Report by Ashwin Achal:

The West Zone innings was wrapped up at 146, thanks to Vidwath Kaverappa’s 7/53. South Zone, with a lead of 67 runs, consolidated its position during the course of the day. Mayank Agarwal and Hanuma Vihari had the most sizeable contribution to it with a 70-run partnership for the third wicket. West ultimatelty managed to make inroads, reducing South from 154/4 to 179/7.

The job is still unfinished as far as West is concerned. A lead in excess of 250 would certainly give an edge to South, and hence one might expect West to come out all guns blazing in the morning session.