Duleep Trophy 2023 Semifinals Day 4 Highlights: South Zone wins thriller vs North; West cruises into final

That is it from our side. A perfect end to four days of cricket.

We’ll be back for the final where West will try to defend its title. South, on the other hand, will be looking to avenge its 2022 loss.

See you on the July 12. This was Abhishek Saini and Sahil Mathur taking you through the action. Cheers!

SAI KISHORE! FINISHES OFF IN STYLE! He smashes Jayant Yadav for a six over long on and wins the game for his side.

South Zone wins by two wickets. It will meet West Zone in the final. A repeat of the 2022 title clash.

V Vyshak is able to stand for the three deliveries from Baltej Singh.

Sai Kishore to take strike in the next over.

Sasikanth holes out to Jayant Yadav! It is not over, ladies and gentlemen.

Sasikanth takes a single on the first delivery of the over from Baltej Singh.

The win is surely in sight now. Sasikanth and Sai Kishore take singles for the rest of the over.

Sasikanth tonks Rana over mid wicket for six runs. Just eight needed now!

He takes a single of the next delivery.

K V Sasikanth is the new batter at the crease. Starts with a dot ball.

The seventh wicket goes down! Harshit Rana gets Washington Sundar.

We still await the start of the next over.

Sai Kishore! He smacks a maximum off Baltej Singh. That gets South Zone past 200 and just 14 runs from a win.

If all that’s going on was not enough, the umpires take a reading for the light.

Much to the relief of South Zone, the light is good to play. For now, at least.

It is the end of an over. Finally! Sai Kishore sees out the last three deliveries of the over.

22 runs more to go for South.

R Sai Kishore is the new batter and he gets off the mark on the first delivery.

Two set batters fall in successive overs. It is all happening at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Tilak Varma is out! Harshit Rana induces an edge and Prabhsimran does the rest behind the stumps. What is happening here?

The crowd is displeased with the North Zone players taking too long to finish their overs, tweets Ashwin Achal.

Drama! Ricky Bhui is gone! Baltej Singh gets the breakthrough. Dhruv Shorey makes no mistake in completing the catch.

Surely there’s no turnaround from here. Or is it?

Washington Sundar is out in the middle.

North Zone doing whatever little it can to slow down the play.

Harshit Rana finishes off the three deliveries of his over. Three runs come from those balls and South Zone just 29 away from a place in the final.

South Zone to continue its innings from 183/4. 32 runs to go.

It’s still raining in Bengaluru, says our reporter Ashwin Achal.

The wait goes on.

The umpires have taken Tea on Day 4. Still no update on the resumption.

If there is no play possible, North Zone will qualify for the final by virtue of first innings lead.

The match between West Zone and Central Zone is drawn. West makes it to the final by virtue of first innings lead.

Pranay Rajiv: Players are seen shaking hands. No official announcement yet but it seems the game is over.

West Zone is through to the final.

South needs 32 more to win with Tilak Varma and Ricky Bhui still there.

Here comes the rain again. Play stopped.

Tilak Varma hits a six. The target for South is now less than 50 with six wickets in hand.

North Zone gets the wicket of Hanuma Vihari. The South skipper goes on 43. Harshit Rana takes his wicket. North Zone not out of this contest just yet.

In walks Tilak Varma.

There’s a turnout for this game as it proceeds for an exciting finish.

We have a rain interruption in Alur. Just when Central looked like gaining some momentum, rain halts play. Yadav is on 18 while Khare on 27.

Upendra Yadav has started his innings well and has moved to 13 off 21 deliveries. Amandeep Khare on 24 off 65 at the other end.

Mayank Agarwal gets to his fifty but falls immediately after. Jayant Yadav catches him leg before on 54.

Ricky Bhui joins captain Hanuma Vihari now.

South Zone cruising. Vihari has struck seven fours and is on 31 off 25. Mayank Agarwal one short of his half century.

Rinku Singh falls right after Lunch. Dodiya gets him caught to Nagwaswalla.

Hanuma Vihari hits two boundaries in Harshit Rana’s over. The intent from the South batters is clear - they are out for the win before the next rain delay stops the match.

The game is back underway after the Lunch break.

Mayank Agarwal will play the steering role in the chase. He is on 36 off 41 deliveries. Hanuma Vihari with him at the crease.

Rinku thumps Gaja for a lofted boundary straight into the press box says Pranay Rajiv.

It is Lunch on Day 4 and Rinku Singh’s knock has sparked some life into the Central Zone run chase. Still a long way from the target though.

Rinku Singh blitzkreig underway. He’s tonked three sixes in the space of three overs. Two of them in Jadeja’s over - one over long off and one over cover. He’s now on 35 off just 27.

Rinku Singh is the new batter and he has added on 10 runs in 13 deliveries. Amandeep Khare is on 21 off 50.

South captain Hanuma Vihari was on the field for an inspection and looked keen to get play resumed. However, with the drizzle back, early lunch was taken.

Jurel stumped. Dances down against Jadeja and misses the length completely. Het Patel completes an easy stumping.

Sarfaraz Khan has gone off the field.

The Central batters seem pretty comfortable against the spin of Dharmendrasinh Jadeja. The team total is inching closer to 50 runs. Central would need this pair to continue for the remaining session and chip away at the target.

Some semblance of a recovery from Central. Dhruv Jurel and Amandeep Khare apply themselves in the middle and have stitched a 25-run partnership.

Ominous signs for Central Zone. The openers needed to provide a platform but they could not last 10 overs.

Dhruv Jurel and Amandeep Khare at the crease right now, and would want to contribute a sizeable partnership to put up some fight in the contest.

Pranay Rajiv: Atit Sheth into the attack and he removes Vivek Singh straight away. Slight out swing and Vivek edges it. Het Patel completes a low catch. Central loses both its openers.

Vaibhav Arora strikes again. He traps Samarth R leg before on five runs. North Zone managing to stay in the hunt.

Captain Hanuma Vihari joins Mayank Agarwal in the middle.

Samarth R is the new batter for South and he seems to be settling in. Mayank Agarwal’s strike rate has dropped below 100 for the first time in this innings.

Pranay Rajiv: Nagwaswalla strikes. He draws an edge from Himanshu Mantri from over the wicket and Sarfraz takes the catch at gully.

A change in bowling works. Vaibhav Arora removes Sai Sudharsan on 17 as he is caught by keeper Prabhsimran Singh.

Himanshu Mantri faces all six deliveries of Arzan Nagwaswalla’s opening over. He manages to find the fence at sqaure leg.

Vivek Singh to face Chintan Gaja now.

South Zone is zooming away towards the target. Mayank Agarwal is on 24 off 19 and found another boundary in Baltej Singh’s over.

North needs to put a halt on the scoring rate here.

Well, the question is answered. Yuvraj and Arzan cannot. Saransh Jain gets Dodiya to hole out to Rinku Singh and that is the end of the West Zone innings.

Central Zone needs 390 runs to win.

Arzan Nagwaswalla picks up two doubles in the first over of the day. Can the Nagwaswalla and Yuvrajsinh Dodiya take the lead past 400?

Harshit Rana finishes the three remaining deliveries of his over. Mayank Agarwal is able to find the fence on the penultimate delivery. He’s now on 16 off just 14 deliveries. Sai Sudharsan meanwhile taking his time as he stands on seven off 28.

The ground has dried up properly and the sky looks clear for now, says Pranay Rajiv from Alur as the Central Zone players walk out on to the field.

On Friday, like scores of bowling units before them, Central Zone endured the futility of bowling to Cheteshwar Pujara.

The West Zone batter had begun his six-hour-long innings on Thursday after his team had taken a 92-run lead against Central in the Duleep Trophy semifinal at the Alur (I) Cricket Ground in Bengaluru.

Full story by Pranay Rajiv:

Like the three days of start and stop due to rains, the fourth day too is likely to get affected by rains.

The temperature is 26° right now. The chances of rain stand at 40%, peaking between 2-3 PM today.

South Zone 21/0 & 195 vs North Zone 198 & 211 - South needs 194 runs to win

West Zone 292/9 & 220 vs Central Zone 128 - West leads by 284 runs

Day 3 of the match between West Zone and Central Zone belonged only and only to Cheteshwar Pujara. The batter brought up his 60th First Class century to go level with the great Vijay Hazare. He ensured that the West run tally kept ticking on despite wickets falling around him. His 133-run knock got the side’s lead to 384 runs. Given its the last day, expect West to declare and go for the outright win.

In Bengaluru, Prabhsimran Singh threatened to pull the game away from South Zone. He played some aggressive strokes but fell to the bouncer trap of V Vyshak. The Karnataka bowler picked up five wickets and stuck a foot in the door. South had a target of 215 to chase and 21 of those were made on Day 3 before rain stopped play. This game hangs right in the balance. We’re in for a treat of a final day.