Duleep Trophy: Mayank Agarwal finds sweet spot as South squeeze into final

Bengaluru, July 8

Tamil Nadu’s R Sai Kishore came up with a splendid all-round show as South Zone trumped North Zone by two wickets on a rain-interrupted last day of their Duleep Trophy semifinal here today.

In the final, South will take on defending champions West Zone in a repeat of the 2022 title clash.

Chasing 215 in overcast conditions, South were in the driver’s seat with Mayank Agarwal (54) and skipper Hanuma Vihari (43) playing counterattacking knocks.

But the pace trio of Harshit Rana (3/84), Baltej Singh (2/47) and Vaibhav Arora (2/46) provided timely breakthroughs, while North skipper Jayant Yadav grabbed the prized scalp of Agarwal.

West storm into final

Alur: West Zone entered the final on the back of a crucial first-innings lead after their semifinal clash against Central Zone ended in a draw.

Chasing an improbable 399 to win, Central could only manage 128/4 when the heavens opened up to force the closure at tea during their match at the KSCA Oval.

Brief scores: North Zone: 198 and 211 vs South Zone: 195 and 219/8 in 82 overs (Agarwal 54, Vihari 43; Rana 3/84); West Zone: 220 and 297 vs Central Zone: 128 and 128/4 (Rinku 40; Dodiya 1-16).