Central Zone have strengthened their hold on the Duleep Trophy final against South Zone. Yash Rathod narrowly missed a double century, falling for 194, but his innings helped Central Zone post a formidable 511. In their second innings, South Zone batters adopted a more proactive approach to produce a better showing than in their first innings, finishing Day 3 on 129 for 2.
On Day 3, Rathod continued from where he left off, building a strong partnership with Saransh Jain, who made 69. His 176-run stand with Saransh, followed by a 58-run partnership with Deepak Chahar, secured Central Zone a lead of 362 runs.
Saransh was the first to depart after batting through most of the first session. The pitch appeared to have flattened out, offering little assistance to the bowlers. Out of nowhere, Ankit Sharma outfoxed Saransh. It was the only wicket to fall in the morning session.
Rathod continued to bat steadily, rotating the strike with singles and twos, punctuated by the occasional boundary. After the drinks break in the second session, Chahar came out playing his shots as Central Zone looked to accelerate and score quickly.
Gurjapneet Singh broke the threatening partnership by removing Rathod, denying him his maiden first-class double century. What followed was a mini collapse, with the last three wickets falling for just 11 runs. All were claimed by Ankit, who finished with figures of 4/180.
South Zone began their second innings positively, with Mohit Kale and Tanmay Agarwal putting on 62 runs for the first wicket. Kale rode his luck but also managed to find the boundary regularly.
Having learned from their struggles in the first innings, the South Zone batters used their feet and the crease more effectively to counter the opposition bowlers. Against the run of play, in the second over of the third session, Kale was trapped in front to give Saransh his sixth wicket of the match.
Smaran Ravichandran walked in and immediately showed intent, striking two boundaries in the first over he faced. Tanmay, who had looked settled after facing 42 deliveries, misjudged an incoming ball from Kuldeep Sen and was dismissed after shouldering arms. Ricky Bhui then joined Smaran as the duo tackled Saransh and Kumar Kartikeya with intent before bad light brought an early end to the day.
Brief Scores: South Zone 149 (Tanmay Agarwal 31, Salman Nizar 24; Saransh Jain 5-49, Kumar Kartikeya 4-53) and 129/2 (Smaran Ravichandran 37 batting, Ricky Bhui 26 batting; Kuldeep Sen 1-22, Saransh Jain 1-32) vs Central Zone 511 (Yash Rathod 194, Rajat Patidar 101; Gurjapneet Singh 4-124, Ankit Sharma 4/180).
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