South Zone captain Tilak Varma scored an unbeaten ton on Day 2 of Duleep Trophy 2026 semifinal, rescuing his side in the first innings from a batting collapse against North Zone. Varma stitched a crucial partnership with Shreyas Gopal, soaking up the pressure and then brought up his first-class career’s eighth century. At the end of Day 2, South Zone have a wicket in hand and 90 runs in the bag already.
After bowling out North Zone for 195 on Day 1 in 59.1 overs. Anshul Kamboj and Gurnoor Brar struck with the new ball. At the end of Day 1's play South Zone were 40/2 with Varma batting for one run from three deliveries.
Brar struck in his first over of Day 2, dismissing Narayan Jagadeesan who got bowled for a 63-ball 36. Smaran Ravichandran looked to score quickly. He was square up by a brilliant delivery from Brar. He fell for a 35-ball 27. In the same over, Brar got rid of Kodimela Himateja for a two-ball duck. Shreyas Gopal joined Varma in the middle when South Zone were 80.5 in the 31st over.
Varma, Gopal stage comeback
Varma and Gopal played maiden overs, not letting South Zone get bowled out cheaply. The partnership grew and Gopal got to his half-century from 107 balls with a boundary off Nishant Sindhu. On the last ball of the 70th over, Varma reached his half-century from 149 balls.
As the new ball was taken, Varma and Gopal looked to score quickly, dealing in boundaries. Arshdeep Singh broke the partnership with Gopal's wicket. Gopal missed a much-deserved seventh first-class century. He scored 88 runs from 169 deliveries, sharing a 175-run partnership for the sixth wicket. When the partnership was broken, South Zone were 255/6 in the 87th over.
Another collapse
Kamboj returned to dismiss Tanay Thyagrajan for a single-digit score. In the next over, Arshdeep dismissed Vidwath Kaverappa for a golden duck. Then, MD Nidheesh was run out for a golden duck. South Zone lost nine wickets for 270 runs.
Varma scores ton
In the 92nd over, Varma hit Brar for consecutive fours to reach his century from 219 balls, 70 more after getting to his fifty. At the end of Day 2's play, Varma was unbeaten on 106 off 225 balls with Kavuri Saiteja on the other end. South Zone have 285/9 on the board with 90-run lead in the bag.