The Final of India's premier red-ball domestic competition is underway at the BCCI's Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru. South Zone is taking on the Central Zone in the all-important clash, as both sides focus on scripting history.
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Both sides are coming into the Final on the back of a solid display in their penultimate games. While the semi-finals ended in a draw, the performances of both the finalists were thoroughly dominant.
The Duleep Trophy 2025 Finals commence at the BCCI's CoE
As the fight for the ultimate glory gets underway, both sides have seen a return of some of their key players for the all-important game.
Smaran Ravichandran, Andre Siddharth, and Ankit Sharma are back for the South Zone, while the experienced pacer Kuldeep Sen, left-arm wrist spinner Kumar Kartikeya, and Vidarbha pacer Aditya Thakare have returned to the Central Zone lineup.
Brief Scores: Day 1
South Zone - 149 all-out, Tanmay Agarwal - 31, Salman Nizar - 24, Saransh Jain - 5/49, Kumar Kartikeya - 4/53
Central Zone - YTB
Saransh Jain shines again, Kartikeya takes 4 as South Zone faces a collapse on Day 1
After his fifer in the second innings of the semi-finals against the West Zone, Saransh Jain, the left-arm spinner from Madhya Pradesh, continued his good work, grabbing yet another 5-wicket haul on the first day of the Finals.
Saransh bowled an exceptional spell of 5/49, which included the key wicket of Ricky Bhui. Kumar Kartikeya, the other left-arm spinner, was magnificent in his return as well. He clinched 4 wickets, out of which two were of the Top 3 batters.
Danish Malewar scores another fifty, continuing his good form
The 21-year-old sensation from Nagpur, Danish Malewar, continued his good run in domestic cricket as he piled up yet another half-century on Day 2 of the Duleep Trophy Finals.
The young star, earlier, slammed a wonderful double ton against the North-East Zone in the quarter-finals on his Duleep Trophy debut.
The number 3 batter is known for his knack of scoring daddy hundreds. He ended the last Ranji Trophy season with 783 runs in 15 innings at an average of 52.
He broke into the scene during the U19 Cooch Behar Trophy 2022/23, where he scored 1171 runs in 8 matches at an average of 117.10, with 4 centuries, including a triple hundred and a double hundred.
Brief Scores: Day 2
South Zone - 149 all-out, Tanmay Agarwal - 31, Salman Nizar - 24, Saransh Jain - 5/49, Kumar Kartikeya - 4/53
Central Zone - 272/5, Danish Malewar - 53, Rajat Patidar - 101, Gurjapneet - 3/74
Rajat Patidar scores century
Central Zone captain Rajat Patidar kept his good form going with a brilliant hundred in the Duleep Trophy final. Coming in when his team was struggling at 93/3, he steadied the innings and built a vital century partnership with Yash Rathod.