Duleep Trophy 2023 Highlights Final Day 5: South Zone claims title after 13 years

Excellent game of cricket. Both teams played well. We won but credit to West Zone as well. Credit to the ground staff for creating a sporting wicket. It worked well for both spinners and pacers. I think it was a soft dismissal in the first innings. I could have scored big. We are a young side and we handled the pressure well.

I think we wanted to fight. That is what we discussed in the morning. I thought if I had played 5-6 overs in the morning, the result could have been different. Congratulations to South Zone, they bowled really well. We bowled well throughout the tournamnt. Sheth and Nagwaswalla bowled well. Jadeja too. I think on the second day we lost six wickets for 30 runs and that cost us.

It feels good that the effort paid off. The pitch got better to bat on in the later stages. We knew we had to wait for our moments. I had a lot of help from the seniors. I feel I have matured a lot and look forward to the upcoming season.

Vidwath Kaverappa is also the player of the series. for his wicket haul of 15.

Vidwath Kaverappa wins player of the match award for his 8-wicket haul in the final.

Sai Kishore gets the final wicket. Atit Sheth lofts it towards the on side and is caught at long on.

SOUTH ZONE WINS BY 75 RUNS.

Put to test against the big guns of West, South sails through. It was the better side in all departments. But it was the bowlers who strung together the win for South. Kaverappa picked eight wickets in the game. The other pacers Koushik and Vyshak too bowled their hearts out. Hanuma Vihari was brilliant with his captaincy too. He can add the Duleep Trophy title to his resume. South Zone lifts the Duleep Trophy title after 13 years.

That was all from our side. The Duleep Trophy comes to an end. But the domestic season is just getting started. The Deodhar Trophy is back this season and Sportstar will keep you updated with all the latest news.

This was Abhishek Saini and Sahil Mathur taking you through the action. Until next time, good bye!

Atit Sheth takes strike for five deliveries in Koushik’s over. A single on the fifth one. Arzan Nagwaswalla survives the last one and the inevitable is delayed by an over.

Chintan Gaja is gone! Poor temperament. Goes for a wild pull shot against Sai Kishore and has no control over it. The mid wicket fielder takes the catch to put South Zone just one wicket away from the title.

The second new ball is available now but South persisting with the old one. Mayank Agarwal with some smart gamesmanship here. He walks right up to Chintan Gaja and eggs his bowler on. Has a unique double clap routine to add on to that and the other South Zone players join in to the clap.

Jadeja is OUT! He steps out looking for a heave. Does not middle it and the long off fielder takes the catch. An unnecessary stroke, really. He had just got a boundary on the previous delivery. Sai Kishore gets his second wicket.

Vyshak yet again leaks runs, not by his fault though. Ricky Bhui fails to gather a delivery which moves in the air after crossing the batter. Runs all the way to the fence. A welcome gift for West. They’ll take runs however they come.

Sai Kishore is brought into the attack after the drinks break with the hope of exploiting the rough against Jadeja. The batter is beaten once in the over when trying a slog sweep.

V Koushik with another maiden over.

Jadeja clips off Vyshak in the next over but Vihari has a deep mid wicket in place now which allows only a single. A possible bouncer ploy against the left-hand batter.

Vyshak moves one back in sharply and Sheth is struck on the pads. The umpire has denied the appeal for now but South has reviewed the decision. The ball tracker shows ‘umpire’s call’ on the wickets and Sheth survives.

Jadeja punches a ball through extra cover and runs a couple. That shot brings up the 200 for West Zone. He then drives through covers for a FOUR. An expensive over from Vyshak as seven come off it.

Jadeja dropped! He plays an on drive and the ball has a decent hang time. Koushik gets down in time but the ball passes through his hands.

A no ball and two singles allow West to cut down the target to 100 runs.

Mulani falls! Koushik has his fourth wicket. Mulani wants to clip it to the on side but gets a leading edge. Mayank Agarwal gathers it at mid off and Vihari would breathe a bit easier now.

Dharmendrasinh Jadeja also edges one but the ball this time does not carry to the second slip fielder. South Zone are all over North right now.

Dropped! Vihari squanders an easy chance at first slip. The change of bowling nearly doing the trick. Mulani is done by Vyshak’s seam movement away from him and gets an edge. It was a regulation catch for Vihari but the ball popped out of his hands.

Chance! Sheth closes the face of his bat a bit early. The ball edges and goes towards the slip cordon. But the excess bounce that Kaverappa is extracting ensures the ball goes over the slips. Two runs completed.

Sheth plays a cover drive and scurries for a single. That’s the first run in three overs for West Zone. Just the third since Panchal’s wicket.

Atit Sheth and Shams Mulani content with just hanging around. V Koushik with back to back maiden overs. Kaverappa too keeping making it difficult to score runs. West 107 away from the target.

PANCHAL IS OUT! CAUGHT BEHIND OFF KAVERAPPA! He cannot help but poke at a delivery way outside off, gets a thick edge and the ball carries to Bhui. There was some extra bounce too on that delivery. Is that the match gone for West Zone?

Shams Mulani walks out to bat and he gets off the mark on the final delivery with a flick to deep square.

V Koushik to bowl from the other end. Panchal faces him. One slip and a gully in place for him. Panchal picks two runs with a trickle down to fine leg. Panchal cuts a wide delivery and it is racing to the fence but South has protection in the form of a deep point fielder.

Atit Sheth is given OUT! He does not offer a stroke on an in swinger and the ball thuds onto his front foot. He goes for a review immediately. The DRS shows that the ball was missing the stumps and Sheth survives. The big stride forward saved him there.

Kaverappa conceded four byes earlier in the over.

Ladies and gentlemen, Day 5 is here. Panchal and Atit Sheth walk out to continue their innings. Vidwath Kaverappa will finish the three deliveries of his over.

Priyank Panchal, if he gets to his hundred, will take his tally to three Duleep Trophy centuries, equalling the record of greats like MAK Pataudi, Virender Sehwag and Kris Srikanth.

West Zone: 19

South Zone: 13

Which team adds to its tally today?

Panchal was gifted a life when Hanuma Vihari grassed a tough catch at second slip. Panchal not only went on to complete 8000 runs in First Class cricket but also inched his team closer to a win. But going all the way to the target is what the West captain would want.

The weather allowed a full day of cricket on Saturday. The same should continue on Day 5 as well. There’s just 30% chances of rain today and we should be done before the evening showers.

Priyank Panchal (92 batting, 205b, 11x4) and Sarfaraz Khan (48, 76b, 5x4, 1x6) kept West Zone afloat against South Zone in the Duleep Trophy final at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Saturday.

The 98-run fifth-wicket stand between Panchal and Sarfaraz took West Zone to 182 for five at the end of the fourth day. If Panchal can bat for another session, West will fancy its chances of knocking off the 116 runs needed for victory.

Full report by Ashwin Achal:

West Zone needs 116 runs to win. South needs five wickets. After four days of nip and tuck between the two sides, we have a clear equation. South had West reeling at 79/4 at one point. Priyank Panchal and Sarfaraz Khan then dug in and helped the defending champion stay afloat. Panchal is just eight short of his century and shoulders the responsibility to get his team home. Will he do it? Or will South Zone bowlers power their way through the five remaining scalps and win the title?