Duleep Trophy Highlights Semifinals Day 1: West Zone ends Day 1 on 216/8; South Zone 63/4, trails by 135

West Zone vs Central Zone, North Zone vs South Zone - LIVE

The runs had dried up with Tilak and Mayank taking a cautious approach as the day moved closer to Stumps. Mayank playing on 37, having scored more than half of the team’s total. Tilak Verma will continue on 12 on Day 2 as South Zone trails by 135 runs.

Tilak Verma has found two boundaries in his six-ball stay. Mayank has also played his shots which has lifted the run rate above four runs per over. Still a massive trail of 133 runs for South to cover.

Chintan Gaja on 13 off 42 and Arzan Nagwaswalla on 5 off 28 successfully play out the closing spell with the new ball. Central Zone will have to come out on the field again to bowl out the side. Atit Sheth’s 74 proving vital in the cause along with Dharmendrasinh Jadeja’s 39. A solid recovery by West after its top and middle order were rattled, leaving the side at 65 for five.

Tilak Verma survives Harshit Rana’s hat-trick delivery after play resumes following a rain break.

Chintan Gaja and Arzan Nagwaswalla hang around and prevent the Central bowlers from getting the ninth wicket. Just two overs left in the day. Prolonging its innings to the second day will be a huge morale boost for West.

Harshit Rana removes Ricky Bhui on the first delivery. He’s trapped leg before wicket. What a start this is turning out to be for the North Zone bowlers.

Hanuma Vihari is sent back to the pavilion by Harshit Rana. The right-arm pacer castles Vihari and South Zone in trouble, having lost three wickets for just nine runs. Mayank Agarwal is unbeaten on 25 and looking in fine touch but he needs support from the other end.

Baltej Singh strikes again. Samarth R’s time at the crease lasts just three deliveries as he holes out to Prashant Chopra. South trails by 164 runs.

Captain Hanuma Vihari joins Mayank Agarwal.

Pranay Rajiv: Sheth’s fantastic knock comes to an end on 74. It is captain Mavi again who strikes. He gets the new ball to swing away and Sheth can only edge it to slip. Central Zone will be looking to close off this innings as soon as possible now.

Baltej Singh picks the first wicket for North as Sai Sudharsan holes out to Jayant Yadav.

Atit Sheth picks up a single off Saurabh Kumar’s first delivery and that gets West to 200. Atit’s 73 has steered West Zone to a respectable total. Contributions from Pujara and Jadeja came in handy too. For how long can the West tail frustrate Central Zone?

Sai Sudharsan and Mayank Agarwal off to a brisk start for South. The pair chips away 11 runs in the first two overs. Agarwal scoring two boundaries so far.

Saransh Jain strikes with his off spin. He drags Jadeja forward with a slower one. Takes an inside edge and pops up after hitting the pad. Easy catch for Khare at short leg.

Pranay Rajiv: Jadeja and Sheth are looking comfortable in the middle. A half-hearted stumping appeal off Saurabh Kumar is the only time either of the two batters were worried. West Zone will be hoping that these two can see off the day. With dark rain clouds circling back over the ground, the end of day’s play might be closer than usual.

Kaverappa removes the last man Baltej Singh to wrap up the North Zone innings at 198. He picks his third First Class five-wicket haul in process. A decent effort by North to stretch their score to 198 after it reeled at 123 for seven at one stage.

Runs really starting to flow for West Zone. Atit Sheth gets to his fifty - the seventh of his career. He’s now batting on 57 off 104 balls. Jadeja on the other end at 34 off 80.

Baltej Singh and Vaibhav Arora continue their 10th wicket partnership as light and rain finally permit play to continue.

Dharmendrasinh Jadeja with a six over square leg off Saransh Jain’s over. It’s fifty partnership between Atit Sheth and Jadeja too.

Atit Sheth with another four to move into the 40s and take the team total beyond 150.

Just two runs from the first four overs after the resumption of play post Tea.

The rearguard from Baltej Singh and Vaibhav Arora continues as bad light stops play from continuing. Not the first interruption of the day. Hopefully, the players should be back on the field shortly.

West Zone gets a total of 82 runs in the session for the loss of two wickets. Cheteshwar Pujara and Atit Sheth combined with Jadeja’s late flourish gave the defending champion the edge in the session. Central Zone would be slightly unhappy on how it allowed West to claw back. If they don’t remove this pair, currently on a partnership worth 35, the total could get further closer to 200 runs.

No. 11 Baltej Singh has stuck around for seven deliveries. Vaibhav Arora in that time has found two fours and a six to nudge the team’s total closer to 200 runs. Their partnership has added 16 runs.

Pranay Rajiv: Atit Sheth and Dharmendrasinh Jadeja are guiding West Zone to a respectable total. The left-right combination is unafraid to take on the bowlers. Atit is the more brutal of the two. A cracking pull shot off Yash Thakur being the highlight of his knock so far.

Dharmendrasinh Jadeja smashes three fours off Shivam Mavi to move to 19 runs off just 20 deliveries.

If Jadeja can provide support to Atit Sheth, West Zone can make an attempt to get to 200.

Washington Sundar gets a wicket in his comeback match. A caught and bowled dismissal to remove Harshit Rana. Baltej Singh is the only player left for South to remove.

The wicket means the umpires have decided to take Tea.

There’s a small interuption in play. Rinku Singh and Avesh Khan collide while going for a catch.

Atit Sheth lobs one over the umpire. Rinku Singh and Avesh Khan go after it together from mid-on and mid-off. They both reach the ball, before colliding into each other.

Avesh is the one who has come off the worst. He requires medical attention and is taken off the field. Looks like it’s his left shoulder

Harshit Rana is going at it. He hits two sixes to move to 31 off just 20 deliveries. Can he propel his team past 200 runs?

Pujara is OUT! It is Mavi who gets the crucial wicket.

Pranay Rajiv: First real loose shot of the day from Pujara. He tries to cross bat one off Mavi. Was off balance and edges it to the slip. He manages 28 runs from his 102-ball stay at the crease.

Dharmendrasinh Jadeja to bat at number eight.

Pujara picks four runs with a drive through the cover region off Shivam Mavi. This brings up the 100 for West Zone.

The side would hope that the pair of Pujara and Sheth continue to add on runs for the sixth wicket.

Nishant Sindhu, the last recognized batter, falls. He holes out to substitute fielder Sachin Baby off V Vyshak on 27.

South Zone in cruise control and just two away from bowling out North.

Atit Sheth consolidates on his aggressive start and collects two more boundaries. West Zone just two away from bringing up 100 runs. Pujara on 19 runs off 84 deliveries.

North Zone batters throwing caution to the wind. Nishant Sindhu with two sixes - one off Sai Kishore and second off Kaverappa. New man Harshit Rana has hit three fours to move to 12 off just six deliveries.

Pranay Rajiv: “Atit Sheth and Pujara reel in a few boundaries to push West Zone forward. Pujara meanwhile is engaged in an intriguing battle with Saurabh Kumar. After he was cut and slashed by a couple of fours by Pujara, the left arm spinner has bowled a little fuller, forcing the Saurashtra batter to employ his front foot defence.”

Kaverappa gets his fourth wicket as he traps Narang leg before. Narang goes without opening his account and North Zone staring down the barrel.

South Zone, just like the first hour of the morning session, have struck early in the second session. Another catch for Ricky Bhui as Jayant goes back to the pavilion after just 12 deliveries in the middle.

Pulkit Narag walks out at number eight.

Pranay Rajiv reports, “Het Patel thought he survived. He edges one from Avesh Khan to the slip, but gets lucky as the umpire calls a no ball. Avesh made sure his error didn’t prove costly. Searing yorker from the pacer and Het Patel loses two of his stumps.”

Ankit Kumar’s stay at the crease comes to an end. He is caught by Ricky Bhui off as K V Sasikanth gets his second wicket.

Skipper Jayant Yadav will now try to get some runs on the board for North Zone.

Trouble for West Zone. Avesh Khan castles Het Patel. This was not the start which West needed. Patel out on five off 27 deliveries.

Atit Sheth walks out to bat.

Vidwath Kaverappa takes the ball for the first over after the break. Ankit Kumar resumes on 33 while Nishant Sindhu on two.

The Lunch break is done with and we’re ready for two more hours of cricket.

South Zone had the upper hand in the first hour, Vidwath Kaverappa got two while Sai Kishore grabbed one wicket. This was followed by some brilliant shot making by Prabhsimran Singh who got North Zone back into the contest only to fall one shy of a fifty. Ankit Kumar is the set batter on 33 and, with Nishant Sindhu, would hope to add on more runs in the second session.

Pujara and Patel’s damage control is successful as the duo arrest the slide in the final half hour of play. Shaw and Panchal had got off to a decent start and contributed 43 runs. Shaw was removed first and West Zone just lost momentum. Panchal, SKY and Sarfaraz fell cheaply requiring the veteran Pujara to dig in and ensure the side does not lose any more wickets in the first session.

Pujara is working up a trademark innings. He has fended off trouble with a blockathon and is on seven runs off 41 deliveries. Het Patel providing support from the other end. He is batting on five of 13 balls.

That’s the end of the innings for the Punjab batter. He falls agonisingly short of a half-century. K V Sasikanth gets his wicket and North Zone loses its fourth.

Nishant Sindhu, a centurion in the quarterfinal, walks out to join the action.

Prabhsimran Singh with six fours and a six has taken his total to 49 runs off just 51 balls. A splendid recovery for his team. Ankit Kumar is on 29 off 54 deliveries.

Pranay Rajiv: “Skipper Mavi strikes again. On the fourth stump and Sarfaraz inside edges it on to the stumps.”

The light delay does not halt the North Zone momentum. Prabhsimran hits a maximum off Sai Kishore. A strike that flies straight back over the bowler’s head. He’s on 24 now while his partner Ankit Kumar is playing on 27.

Pranay Rajiv: “Suryakumar gets a life. Mavi gets him to edge but it is spilt by Vivek at first slip. But Surya doesn’t make the chance count. It is Jurel with another magnificent piece of fielding. Diving catch at second slip. West Zone struggling at the moment and out walks Sarfaraz Khan.”

Captain Shivam Mavi gets the big fish. He gets Suryakumar Yadav to edge one to Dhruv Jurel at second slip.

After an hour without a wicket, Central has picked three in quick succession.

Cheteshwar Pujara with a cover drive to get off the mark. Suryakumar Yadav too finds the fence through the backward point region. West Zone total crosses 50 runs in 19 overs.

Prabhsimran Singh and Ankit Kumar continue to find boundaries as the team total moves closer to 50 runs. Prabhsimran is batting on 16 from just 19 deliveries while Ankit is on 13 off 29.

Pranay Rajiv: “One brings two. Yash Thakur gets the other opener. Panchal plays outside the line and it hits him right on the front pad. Umpire raises his finger immediately.”

Cheteshwar Pujara and Suryakumar Yadav batting for West Zone now.

Pranay Rajiv: “Shaw falls. Quirky dismissal. Shaw tries to punch the ball on the off side. It hits Jurel on the pads who is stationed at silly point. He somehow grips the ball between his legs, before falling backwards and then getting hold off the ball with his hands.

“Shaw not happy with how that happened. Has a word with the umpire. But he has to walk back.”

Shaw has upped the ante after his reprieve. A cut shot against Saurabh Kumar, in his first over, and a classy straight drive off Yash Thakur to add to his list of boundaries.

Ankit Kumar with some much needed counter attack for North Zone. He has hit two boundaries in his 12-ball stay at the crease. Prabhsimran also finding the fence once as the team run rate inches past two runs per over.

Pranay Rajiv says, “ Shaw dropped on 16 by Vivek Singh off Yash Thakur. High chance at second slip and Vivek couldn’t hold on to it.”

North Zone is in trouble here as its third wicket - Prashant Chopra - goes down. Ankit Kumar joins Prabhsimran Singh in the middle

Pranay Rajiv says, “Shaw finally breaks free with an in-control shot. Slightly wide from Avesh and he drives it through the covers.

Follows it up with an upper cut, which finds its way to the fence.

West finally has some momentum.”

The runs have come at a trickle for West Zone but the side has its opening pair still at the crease. Shaw and Panchal are on eight runs each and have seen out 11 overs so far.

Vidwath Kaverappa picks his second. He gets Kalsi to nick one off to the keeper and Ricky Bhui completes the catch. South Zone making early inroads.

Prabhsimran Singh is the new batter for North Zone.

Ankit Kalsi is the new batter for North Zone and he is off the mark. Batting on two runs off 12 balls. Chopra on one run off 24 deliveries at the other end.

South Zone bowlers have ensured the scoring rate stays just around one run per over even as the first hour of play nears its end.

Ashwin Achal from Bengaluru: North loses first wicket. The excellent Kaverappa gets Shorey driving outside off. Gets the edge, taken by the keeper. Good reward for the persistent Kaverappa.

Very loose shot by Shorey. He is most upset (with himself) as he walks off.

Pranay Rajiv from Alur: Slow start from Shaw and Panchal.

Shaw has been middling it well, but has consistently found a fielder with his drives.

Avesh and Mavi have worked well in tandem. Central skipper though has been bowling it a lot fuller in comparison to his new ball partner.

The first boundary of the innings as Shorey finds the fence at the square leg region off Vyshak.

Prithvi Shaw moves to four runs of 14 deliveries. Priyank Panchal yet to open his account. Avesh Khan bowling a maiden over as West prefers to play out the opening spell with caution.

A quiet start for the North batters. Three overs completed and Shorey and Chopra seem to be watchful against the new ball bowling of V Vyshak and Kaverappa.

Dhruv Shorey and Prashant Chopra begin the 1st innings for North. Shorey manages to gather a couple of runs from Vidwath Kaverappa’s opening over.

Prithvi Shaw and Priyank Panchal walk out to open the innings for West Zone. Should be a tricky start given the overcast conditions.

Shivam Mavi takes the new ball for Central Zone.

South - B Sai Sudharshan, Hanuma Vihari (C), K V Sasikanth, Mayank Agarwal, R Sai Kishore, Ricky Bhui, Samarth R, Tilak Verma, V Vyshak, Vidwath Kaverappa, Washington Sundar

North - A R Kalsi, Ankit Kumar, Baltej Singh, Dhruv Shorey, Harshit Rana, J J Yadav (C), Nishant Sindhu, P S Chopra, Prabhsimran Singh, Pulkit Narang, Vaibhav G Arora

South wins the toss, and opts to field.

Central Zone: Vivek Singh, Himanshu Mantri, Amandeep Khare, Dhruv Jurel, Rinku Singh, Upendra Yadav, Saransh Jain, Saurabh Kumar, Shivam Mavi(c), Avesh Khan, Yash Thakur

West Zone: Priyank Panchal(c), Prithvi Shaw, Cheteshwar Pujara, Het Patel, Sarfaraz Khan, Suryakumar Yadav, Atit Sheth, Dharmedrasinh Jadeja, Chintan Gaja, Arzan Nagwaswala, Yuvrajsinh Dodiya

West Zone wins the toss and elects to bat.

And it’s drizzling at the Alur Cricket Ground, reports Pranay Rajiv.

The India A squad for the Emerging Asia Cup was announced on Tuesday and there’s a few notable selections.

Full squad:

Shivam Mavi made his captaincy debut in style when he led the Central Zone team past East in the quarterfinal.

But having experienced leadership roles in junior cricket, Mavi has hit the ground running in the senior level too.

Pranay Rajiv writes:

Hanuma Vihari last played for India against England in 2022. He’s been out of the squad since and faced a major injury set back.

But the Andhra batter, and South Zone skipper in Duleep Trophy, is confident of making a comeback into the national set up.

Ashwin Achal writes:

North Zone: Nehal Wadhera, Prashant Chopra, Dhruv Shorey, Manan Vohra, Prabhsimran Singh (wicketkeeper), Ankit Kumar, AS Kalsi, Harshit Rana, Abid Mushtaq, Jayant Yadav, Pulkit Narang, Nishant Sindhu, Sidharth Kaul, Vaibhav Arora, Baltej Singh.

South Zone: Hanuma Vihari (Captain), Mayank Agarwal (vice-captain), Sai Sudharsan, Ricky Bhui (wicketkeeper), R Samarth, Washington Sundar, Sachin Baby, Pradosh Ranjan Paul, Sai Kishore, V Kaverappa, V Vyshak, KV Sasikanth, Darshan Misal, Tilak Varma.

West Zone: Priyank Panchal (Captain), Cheteshwar Pujara, Suryakumar Yadav, Harvik Desai (wicketkeeper), Prithvi Shaw, Het Patel (wicketkeeper), Sarfaraz Khan, Arpit Vasavada, Atit Seth, Shams Mulani, Yuvraj Dodiya, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja,Tushar Deshpande, Chintan Gaja, Arzan Nagwaswalla.

Central Zone: Shivam Mavi (Captain), Upendra Yadav (vice-captain and wicketkeeper), Vivek Singh, Himanshu Mantri, Kunal Chandela, Shubham Sharma, Amandeep Khare, Rinku Singh, Akshay Wadkar, Dhruv Jurel, Saurabh Kumar, Manav Suthar, Saransh Jain, Avesh Khan, Yash Thakur.

It’s a cloudy morning in Alur where Central Zone will take on West Zone.

Pranay Rajiv with the update.

A strong South Zone takes on North Zone in the Duleep Trophy semifinal which commences at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Wednesday.

Skipper Hanuma Vihari, Mayank Agarwal, B. Sai Sudarshan and Tilak Varma form the core of the South Zone batting. Tamil Nadu southpaw Pradosh Ranjan Paul, who has had a great start to his First-Class career, will look to get among the runs.

Washington Sundar, who has played for India in all three formats, is a threat with bat and ball.

Full preview by Ashwin Achal:

A star-studded West Zone will take on a buoyant Central Zone, which comes into the contest after having beaten East Zone in the quarterfinal, in the Duleep Trophy semifinal at the Alur (I) Cricket Ground in Bengaluru on Wednesday.

Defending champion West, captained by Priyank Panchal, boasts a hefty batting lineup with Cheteshwar Pujara, Suryakumar Yadav, Prithvi Shaw and Sarfaraz Khan building an envious spine.

West’s bowling looks light compared to its batting, particularly in the absence of the Saurashtra left-arm pace duo of Jaydev Unadkat – who was picked for India’s tour of West Indies – and Chetan Sakariya, who pulled out earlier this week due to an injury.

Full preview by Pranay Rajiv: