Duleep Trophy 2023 semifinal: Kaverappa stars for South Zone with fifer before North fights back

Helped by overcast skies, fast bowlers accounted for 12 of the 14 wickets that fell on the opening day with South’s Vidwath Kaverappa claiming 5/28.

Vidhwath Kaverappa shows the ball as he celebrates after taking five wickets during the first day of the Duleep Trophy semifinal match between South Zone and North Zone at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Wednesday. | Photo Credit: K. Murali Kumar

Pacers ran riot on the opening day of the Duleep Trophy semifinal between South Zone and North Zone here on Wednesday.

Helped by overcast skies, fast bowlers accounted for 12 of the 14 wickets that fell. The M. Chinnaswamy Stadium pitch offered some movement and bounce, capitalised to the full by South’s Vidwath Kaverappa (five for 28). The Karnataka cricketer picked up his third First-Class five-for, as South bundled North out for 198.

North relished bowling in the final session, cutting through the top-order in quick time. Baltej Singh and Harshit Rana took two wickets each to reduce South to 63 for four.

Kaverappa was brilliant with the new ball, keeping the batters guessing by keeping a tight off-stump line. He landed the outswingers perfectly, forcing Dhruv Shorey and Ankit Kalsi to fish and edge.

READ | Duleep Trophy 2023 semifinal: Sheth leads West Zone fightback after Mavi rattles top-order

Andhra seamer K.V. Sasikanth failed to maintain a good length, but managed to scalp Prabhsimran Singh (49, 52b, 6x4, 1x6). Prabhsimran scooped a loose drive to cover, where B. Sai Sudharsan grabbed a sharp catch.

Kaverappa returned to the attack to clean up Jayant Yadav, Pulkit Narang and Baltej.

The 24-year-old Kaverappa follows a simple plan to get the results. “On any pitch, if you hit the top of off-stump line, every batsman in the world will find it difficult,” Kaverappa said.

South’s reply started in disastrous fashion. Sudharsan, the best young talent in the team, checked his shot to offer a catch to Jayant at mid-on. The dependable R. Samarth stuck his bat well away from the body to give Baltej his second wicket.

Skipper Hanuma Vihari dragged a short ball from Harshit Rana onto the stumps. The very next delivery, Ricky Bhui was trapped on the pads by an indipper.

Mayank Agarwal (37 batting) and Tilak Varma (12 batting) avoided further damage.

SCORECARD

North Zone (1st innings): Dhruv Shorey c Bhui b Kaverappa 11, Prashant Chopra lbw b Kishore 5, Ankit Kalsi c Bhui b Kaverappa 2, Prabhsimran Singh c Sudharsan b Sasikanth 49, Ankit Kumar c Bhui b Sasikanth 33, Nishant Sindhu c (sub) Baby b Vyshak 27, Jayant Yadav c Bhui b Kaverappa 2, Pulkit Narang lbw b Kaverappa 0, Harshit Rana c&b Sundar 31, Vaibhav Arora (not out) 23, Baltej Singh b Kaverappa 2, Extras (b-10, lb-2, w-1): 13; Total (in 58.3 overs): 198.

Fall of wickets: 1-12, 2-14, 3-18, 4-97, 5-108, 6-115, 7-123, 8-144, 9-173, 10-198.

South Zone bowling: Kaverappa 17.3-8-28-5, Vyshak 10-1-26-1, Kishore 12-3-36-1, Sasikanth 10-0-52-2, Sundar 9-2-44-1.

South Zone (1st innings): Sai Sudharsan c Jayant b Baltej 9, Mayank Agarwal (batting) 37, R. Samarth c Chopra b Baltej 1, Hanuma Vihari b Harshit 0, Ricky Bhui lbw b Harshit 0, Tilak Varma (batting) 12, Extras (b-4): 4; Total (for four wkts, in 17 overs): 63.

Fall of wickets: 1-26, 2-34, 3-35, 4-35.

North Zone bowling: Baltej 7-0-21-2, Vaibhav 4-0-16-0, Harshit Rana 4-0-19-2, Jayant 2-0-3-0.