East Zone has officially booked their place in the Duleep Trophy final after overcoming Central Zone by four wickets in a closely contested semi-final in Bengaluru. Despite a batting collapse during their first innings, East Zone maintained control throughout the match, starting with a strong bowling performance that left Central Zone reeling at 43/3 by the close of play on the previous day.
Central Zone struggled to build momentum on the third day as Abhijit K Sarkar and Mohammed Shami claimed wickets in consecutive overs, reducing them to 63/5. A resilient 41-run effort from Aman Mokhade, supported by lower-order contributions from Harsh Dubey and Arshad Khan, eventually pushed Central Zone past the 150-run mark. Mukesh Kumar led the bowling attack with a four-wicket haul, while Shami contributed three wickets to the effort.
Chasing a target of 159, East Zone’s openers provided a solid start. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi played an aggressive 40-run knock, partnering with Abhimanyu Easwaran for a 61-run opening stand. However, the game tightened when both openers fell in quick succession. Ishan Kishan and Kumar Kushagra steadied the chase until Harsh Dubey struck twice in two balls, creating a brief period of panic. Kishan remained composed, finishing unbeaten on 39 as Shami hit the winning runs to seal the victory.
In the second semi-final, South Zone concluded their first innings with a 90-run lead after adding 27 more runs on the third day, with Tilak Varma remaining not out on 116. North Zone faced an early setback when Qamran Iqbal was dismissed, but a century partnership between Sanat Sangwan and Ayush Doseja brought them back into the contest, erasing the deficit and moving them to 190/3.
The momentum shifted back to South Zone during a late-day collapse. Shreyas Gopal dismissed Abdul Samad, triggering a flurry of wickets that included the crucial scalp of Sangwan and captain Kanhaiya Wadhawan, both falling to MD Nidheesh. Gopal continued to apply pressure, but an unbroken 47-run partnership between Anshul Kamboj and Nishant Sindhu helped North Zone reach stumps with a lead of 139 runs and three wickets remaining. The report also notes that aman Mokhade managed to battle it out in the middle for 41 and the likes of Harsh Dubey and Arshad Khan made meaningful contributions lower down the order to drag Central Zone beyond 150. The report also notes that vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Abhimanyu Easwaran added 61 for the opening wicket with the former in particular batting in typical swashbuckling fashion. The report also notes that the moment there was a breakthrough with Sooryavanshi falling for 40, Easwaran followed suit with just four runs added to the total, but once again. The report also notes that but Ishan Kishan alongside Kumar Kushagra ensured there were no hiccups for a while as they guided East Zone to 124/3 at one stage when Harsh Dubey struck twice in two balls to cause some panic in the batting camp again.
