SZ vs CZ

Rajat Patidar (Central Zone captain): (Winning trophies becoming a habit) Every captain likes winning trophies. I would say I am a bit lucky because the players have shown a lot of character. The track was completely flat, yet the bowlers dominated and made life easier for us. (On the toss decision) This wicket was slightly dry so we decided to bowl. If we bowled them out in the first innings as early as possible - that was our aim and it made things easier. We predicted that it would help the fast-bowlers but I had to give one spinner an over to see how it was behaving. It helped the spinners more. I enjoyed a lot of Yash and especially Danish also, the way he has batted and timed the ball in the last game too. Very happy for him. We've played a lot of matches together, Kartikeya and Saransh. They have a lot of skill and are very difficult to play on these tracks.

Mohammed Azharuddeen (South Zone captain): Hopefully we can learn from this and it's not the end of the world. We will get better with the season. Their spinners were getting a lot of turn and hitting some good lines. Things could have been better if we had played with one more spinner. There is no pinpointing as we played as a team. We have lost as a team. We're experienced players and we fought really hard till the end.

Saransh Jain is declared the Player of the Tournament for tallying 136 runs and bagging 16 wickets. Here's what he has to say: I was pleased with both my batting and bowling but more with my bowling since the wicket for the final was good. To take a five-fer there was special. In today's generation you can't play as a bowler alone. You have to contribute as a batter too. Our plan was to bowl our stock ball in one spot as much as possible. There was something in the wicket. We planned and executed well. (On bowling over and around the wicket) When you bowl from one angle it becomes easy for the batter. If you change the angle it becomes confusing for the batter. If you deceive the batter in the air with the red ball, you are a premium spinner.

Match Summary 

South Zone 149 all out (First innings) and 426 all out (Second Innings)
Central Zone 511 all out(First Innings) and 66/4 (Second Innings) 

Session Summary - Overs 20.3 | Runs 66 | Wickets 4 | RPO 3.25

Central Zone have clinched the Duleep Trophy for the seventh time in the tournaments history and this has been a brilliant performance from them. They needed just 65 runs to win this morning and they got there inside 21 overs as Yash Rathod and Akshay Wadkar saw them home. South Zone continued with their incredible fight which they began on day 4 and made life difficult for the batters with the ball as they picked up four wickets but with just 65 as the target, it was never going to be enough. 

Danish Malewar was dismissed by Ankit Sharma who got some really sharp turn and bounce today. Shubham Sharma and Saransh Jain looked to be aggressive but they were dismissed by Gurjapneet Singh who bowled a menacing spell today morning. Skipper Rajat Patidar came in and showed some good discipline against the spinners. He smashed Sharma for a few boundaries but eventually fell prey as he mistimed a slog sweep. 

South Zone would be kicking themselves for that disastrous first innings. Even if they had got a bit more than 200 runs, this match could have been a nail biting thriller as we saw the batting conditions deteriorate badly. Ankit Sharma got a lot of turn in the second innings and even the lack of a second spinner cost them big time. Overall, their selections for this game should also be questioned big time as should be the performance with the bat and ball in the first innings which made all the difference. Spare of thought for Ankit Sharma and Andre Siddharth who kept them in the game but they had far too much to do. 

How fitting that the man who set up this win in the first innings has the final say! Central Zone are champions of the Duleep Trophy - deservingly so after a thoroughly dominant performance!

20.3 V Koushik to Yash Rathod, FOURRR! CENTRAL ZONE CLINCH THE DULEEP TROPHY AFTER 11 YEARS and they win it by 6 wickets! It was short and wide outside off stump. Rathod got on top of the bounce and punched it away past the backward point region for a boundary. 

20.1 V Koushik to Yash Rathod, too full and bowled in the corridor outside off stump. Rathod presses and drives it towards the point region for a couple of runs. 

19.4 Ankit Sharma to Akshay Wadkar, flatter and bowled outside the line of off stump. Wadkar tries to defend inside the line but is beaten for turn and pace. 

19.3 Ankit Sharma to Akshay Wadkar, tossed up and outside the line of off stump. Wadkar presses and drives it towards the extra cover region. No run. 

19.3 Ankit Sharma to Yash Rathod, fuller and bowled outside the line of off stump. Rathod flicks it away through the mid wicket region for a single.