Key Points

The final going into Day Five was made possible due to a gritty seventh-wicket partnership of 192 runs between Ankit Sharma and C. Andre Siddarth. Initially, the Central Zone were in a pole position to get an innings victory by reducing the South Zone to 222/6 before lunch, and stood at a lead of 140 runs.

But Ankit and Siddarth delayed the inevitable and revived South Zone’s hopes of winning the final through a stunning rearguard act. After Ankit fell agonizingly short of a century after being dismissed for 99, a dramatic collapse in the final half hour of day four’s play meant Central Zone are now in a great position to win the trophy.

As the South Zone lost their last four wickets for just 12 runs, Siddarth held one end firm to be unbeaten on 84. Resuming from 129/2, Ricky Bhui kept the scoreboard ticking before falling for 45 to Deepak Chahar. Smaran Ravichandran brought up his half-century off 70 balls, even as wickets fell around him.

Mohammed Azharuddeen injected some alertness with his 27 off 40 balls, before falling to Kumar Kartikeya Singh. Salman Nizar counterattacked briefly with 12 off 17 balls, before falling to Kartikeya, who then removed Smaran for 67. With the South Zone still trailing, Ankit and Siddarth took charge.

The duo was measured in their approach to attacking Kartikeya and Saransh Jain till lunch break came. After that, they continued their positive approach, as South Zone managed to avert the ignominy of an innings defeat. Their hopes of saving the final were cut when Kartikeya took out Ankit for 99, and from there, Siddarth just watched the tail being dismissed in quick succession, as Central Zone are now primed to become Duleep Trophy champions.

Brief scores:

South Zone 149 and 426 all out in 121 overs (Ankit Kumar 99, Andre Siddarth 84 not out, Kumar Kartikeya Singh 4-110, Saransh Jain 3-130) lead Central Zone 511 in 145.1 overs (Yash Rathod 194; Gurjapneet Singh 4-124) by 64 runs

- IANS