DULEEP TROPHY 2025
Kumar Kartikeya picked up four wickets. © Sportzpics
Kumar Kartikeya and Saransh Jain spun Central Zone into a commanding position on the opening day of the 2025 Duleep Trophy final against South Zone at the BCCI Centre of Excellence Ground in Bengaluru. On a surface that offered plenty of assistance to the spinners, the duo shared nine wickets between them to bowl South Zone out for just 149. In reply, Central Zone’s openers made steady progress to reach 50 without loss at Stumps.
Put in to bat, South Zone got off to a sedate start as the pace trio of Deepak Chahar, Aditya Thakare and Kuldeep Sen kept things tight. Mohit Kale was especially watchful in his 27-run opening stand with Tanmay Agarwal before Kartikeya, coming into the attack in the 16th over, had him bowled attempting a slog sweep. Smaran Ravichandran’s was almost a repeat dismissal as he became Kartikeya’s second wicket while Agarwal, the top run-getter of the innings with 31, was run out after a collision with Ricky Bhui. Skipper Mohammed Azharuddeen was then bowled around the wicket by Kartikeya with one that turned a long way, leaving South Zone struggling at 64/4 by Lunch.
After the break, Saransh took over and bagged three wickets in quick succession. Bhui was out leg-before to a sharp in-turner that beat the inside edge. Salman Nizar struck a six and a four in an over off Kartikeya while Andre Siddarth also struck a boundary off the legspinner. But Siddarth’s stay was cut short by Saransh as he was out stumped. Nizar, who scored 24, was caught at silly mid-off to a Saransh delivery that reared up, reducing South Zone to 116/7. The lower order did not last long as Kartikeya got Gurjanpreet Singh and Saransh dismissed MD Nidheesh and Ankit Sharma to pocket a five-wicket haul.
In contrast to South Zone, Central Zone began their innings on a confident note, with Danish Malewar and Akshay Wadkar getting regular boundaries, including three in an over off Gurjanpreet. Ankit, the only spinner used by South Zone, kept it tidy, as did Vasuki Koushik and Nidheesh. But the Central Zone openers raised a half-century stand to narrow the deficit to 99 before Stumps.
Brief scores: South Zone 149 (Tanmay Agarwal 31, Salman Nizar 24; Saransh Jain 5-49, Kumar Kartikeya 4-53) lead Central Zone 50/0 (Danish Malewar 28*, Akshay Wadkar 20*) by 99 runs.
© Cricbuzz
