In a match that ebbed and flowed in multiple directions throughout the course of 13 sessions, South Zone landed the knockout blow to a star-studded West Zone outfit to win the 2023 Duleep Trophy title. Hanuma Vihari-led South Zone registered an emphatic 75-run win at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on July 16 (Sunday). With the recent title, South Zone took their Duleep Trophy count to 14 and also exacted revenge on West Zone, who emerged victorious last year.
Chasing a 298-run target, West Zone's big guns failed to stamp their authority and left the team tottering. Chesteshwar Pujara (15), Suryakumar Yadav (4) and Prithvi Shaw (7) failed miserably with the bat as South Zone consolidated their grip on the match. At 79/4, West Zone were staring at a massive defeat before captain Priyank Panchal and Sarfaraz Khan united to dig their side out of a precarious situation.
The duo registered a hard-fought 98-run partnership for the fifth wicket before Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore bagged the prized wickets of Sarfaraz, who departed after scoring 48 runs. Panchal remained unbeaten for 92 off 205 balls including 11 fours at stumps on Day 4.
The final day of the match started in the worse possible manner for West Zone as Panchal could manage to add just three more runs to his overnight score before Vidhwath Kaverappa sent the right-handed batter back to the pavilion. With all premier batters back in the hut, it was only a matter of time for South Zone bowlers to clean up the tail and, they did so without even breaking a sweat. West Zone lost their last three wickets for just four runs before bundling out for 222 runs.
For South Zone, Vasuki Koushik and Sai Kishore were the pick of all bowlers as they bagged four wickets each. Kaverappa and Vijaykumar Vyshak chipped in with a wicket each.Â
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