Duleep Trophy final: South claim zonal glory

The South Zone team celebrate their Duleep Trophy final win over West Zone at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore yesterday. Pic/PTI

Sarfaraz Khan's dismissal late on the fourth evening had tilted the scales South Zone's way, transferring the onus almost entirely on Priyank Panchal when West Zone began the final day of the Duleep Trophy needing a further 116 for victory with five wickets in hand. The West skipper had battled his way to 92 on day four, having negotiated 205 deliveries, but he lasted just six balls and added only three more runs at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday.

Kaverappa strikes

Drawn into a loose stroke outside off by Vidwath Kaverappa, all he managed was a feather through to Ricky Bhui behind the stumps. It was game over at that point, even though West bat relatively deep. South moved in relentlessly for the kill, determined to exact revenge for last year's meltdown in the final to the same opponents despite taking the first innings lead.

Their discipline meant release for the West batsmen was at a premium, and when Hanuma Vihari brought on left-arm skipper Sai Kishore somewhat belatedly, West perished in looking for the big strokes to be bowled out for 222, handing South a handsome and deserved 75-run win and their 14th Duleep crown. West lasted just 113 minutes on the final day, losing their last five wickets for 40 runs after having started the morning on 182 for five.

Kishore, who had snapped the Sarfaraz-Panchal alliance the previous evening, drew a series of false shots to pick up three for six in 20 deliveries, he and V Koushik both ending up with four wickets each. The star for South, however, was Kaverappa, named the Player of the Match for his career-best seven-for in the first innings, which he backed up in the second with the crucial scalp of Panchal.

Also Read: I enjoyed captaincy: South Zone skipper Hanuma Vihari after Duleep Trophy title triumph

While Kaverappa and Vyshak Vijaykumar, heroes of the narrow victory over North in the semis, continued to hold their own, Koushik justified his inclusion for the final at the expense of KV Sasikant. He had fired out the top order on Saturday, and on Sunday, he got rid of Shams Mulani, whose batting credentials aren't trifling.

Mulani was undone by a fifth-day track playing the odd trick as he tried to drive on the up and holed out to mid-off, at which point West were still 103 runs away with just three wickets in hand. Just too much to do. West will look back at this game and wonder whether this was a track on which they ought to have mustered only 146 and 222, given the wealth of batting riches at their disposal.

Cheteshwar Pujara failed for once to leave his mark on a final, while Suryakumar Yadav was particularly disappointing whilst making 8 and 4. They were, however, given nothing to work with by South's excellent pace attack, which was backed up by terrific catching and astute captaincy by Vihari, always a step ahead of the game.

Brief scores
South Zone 213 & 230 bt West Zone 146 & 222 (P Panchal 95; V Koushik 4-36, S Kishore 4-57) by 75 runs

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