South Zone Dominates North in Duleep Trophy Semifinals
The Duleep Trophy semifinals opened with two low-scoring, attritional battles, and one theme ran through both: bowlers calling the shots.
At the BCCI CoE, South Zone’s attack, led by a surging Vidhwath Kaverappa, dragged North Zone from a position of promise to a flimsy 195, before the new ball bit back to keep the contest alive.
Kaverappa’s late burst floors North
North Zone, buoyed by their quarterfinal success over West, backed their batsmen again and chose to bat. For a while, that decision looked sound enough. The surface had just enough pace, just enough carry, and Qamran Iqbal cashed in.
He was compact, busy, and decisive on the front foot. His 76 formed the spine of the innings, and for long stretches it felt as if he alone understood the conditions.
At No.3, Ayush Doseja hinted at something substantial with five crisp boundaries in his 23, but his stay ended when Kavuri Saiteja nipped him out. The wobble began. Ayush Badoni and Abdul Samad followed in a hurry, and suddenly North were 95 for 4 before lunch, the early optimism stripped away.
Captain Kanhaiya Wadhawan tried to steady the dressing room mood. His 35, part of a 66-run stand with Iqbal, was the only partnership that truly resembled control. He left well, drove when the ball overpitched, and for a session South had to grind.
Then Tanay Thyagarajan broke it. He went straight through Wadhawan, timber rattled, and the innings changed shape.
From there, it became Iqbal against the tide. He farmed the strike, coaxed what he could from the lower order, and tried to recreate the lower-order rescue act that had served North so well in the previous game. This time, there was no escape.
Kaverappa, expensive in his first spell, returned as if stung by his own figures. He struck the crucial blow by removing Iqbal, then tore through the tail. The last five wickets tumbled for just 21 runs. North went from competitive to undercooked in less than an hour.
Kaverappa finished with 4 for 66, the standout in a collective effort that also saw Thyagarajan and MD Nidheesh grab two wickets apiece. The scorecard told its own story: one substantial innings, scattered cameos, and a collapse that could yet define the match.
North hit back, but Jagadeesan stands firm
Defending 195, North needed early strikes. They got them.
New-ball pair Anshul Kamboj and Guroor Brar hit hard lengths and found enough movement to make South’s top order twitch. Each picked up a wicket, and South were briefly under the kind of pressure they had just inflicted.
N. Jagadeesan refused to blink. He countered, racing to an unbeaten 34, picking off anything loose and turning over the strike to blunt the seamers’ rhythm. By stumps, South had moved to 40 for 2, still 155 behind but with their premier opener set and the pitch beginning to lose some of its early menace.
The first punch belonged to South’s bowlers. The counterpunch, however, may yet come from Jagadeesan’s bat.
Brief scores:
North Zone 195 (Qamran Iqbal 76; Vidhwath Kaverappa 4-66, Tanay Thyagarajan 2-31) lead South Zone 40/2 (N. Jagadeesan 34*; Anshul Kamboj 1-9) by 155 runs.
East’s bowlers check Central as Rinku fights lone battle
In the other semifinal, East Zone’s seamers and spinners hunted in a pack to keep Central Zone to 266, a total that sits awkwardly between “competitive” and “vulnerable.”
Central, sent in after East chose to bowl, never truly escaped the leash. Every time they tried to stretch away, a wicket dragged them back.
Rinku Singh, yet again, became the heartbeat of the innings. His 60 off 88 balls, laced with eight boundaries, brought urgency and purpose to a scorecard that otherwise looked stuck in second gear.
Before his arrival, East had already carved through the top order. Abhijit Sarkar set the tone with 3 for 38, striking twice to remove openers Aman Mokhade and Kunal Chandela. When captain Rajat Patidar was pinned lbw by Mukesh Kumar for 12, Central slumped to 66 for 3, the early advantage firmly with East.
Aryan Juyal’s 46 promised a rebuild. He settled, found his range, and started to mend the innings. Mukesh cut that short too, trapping him lbw and reducing Central to 125 for 5. Every partnership looked temporary.
Rinku refused to accept that script. He marshalled the lower middle order with authority, picking his bowlers, rotating strike, and building a vital 55-run stand with Harsh Dubey. It wasn’t flashy, it was controlled – the kind of knock that drags a side from trouble to something resembling respectability.
Even when Rinku departed, Central found a final burst of resistance. The last-wicket pair of Yash Thakur and Arshad Khan squeezed out precious runs. Arshad scratched his way to 1 from 9 balls, allowing Thakur the freedom to swing. Thakur responded with a brisk, unbeaten 30 off 26, peppered with six boundaries, nudging the total to 266 and changing the mood just enough in the Central dressing room.
East, though, will know they’ve done their job. They kept Central to a chaseable score, shared the wickets around, and ensured no partnership truly broke free.
Two semifinals, two fragile first-innings totals, and one clear message: on these pitches, every run and every new-ball spell will shape who walks into the Duleep Trophy final.
