South and Central to contest Duleep Trophy final

South Zone advanced to the Duleep Trophy final after their semifinal against North Zone in Bengaluru ended in a draw on Sunday, the zonal side going through on a 175 run first-innings lead. Narayan Jagadeesan’s 197 in the first innings and an unbeaten 52 in South Zone’s second dig underpinned the victory by virtue of runs, and Central Zone secured the other final berth after their drawn semifinal with West Zone, leaving a title decider between Central and South starting September 11 at the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru.

At the BCCI Centre of Excellence Ground 1, South Zone piled up 536 in their first innings, Jagadeesan’s marathon 352-ball 197 featuring 16 fours and three sixes. Devdutt Padikkal (57) and Tanay Thyagarajan (58) also contributed as South built a commanding total. North Zone replied with 361, Shubham Khajuria’s gritty 128 the lone major resistance. Gurjapneet Singh and MD Nidheesh led the South Zone bowling effort, with Singh finishing with four wickets and Nidheesh three, according to match reports. When South resumed batting they reached 95 for one before the teams agreed to end the match as a draw, with Jagadeesan remaining on 52 not out and earning...