Duleep Trophy closing | Centrals triumph all however sure

Yash Rathod added heft to his popularity as a reliable red-ball batter with a fluent 194 in opposition to South Zone within the Duleep Trophy closing on the BCCI CoE Ground (1) right here on Saturday.

The Central Zone southpaw carried on seamlessly from his in a single day rating of 137. Rathod’s massive knock took his aspect to a mammoth 511, leaving South with no hope of constructing a comeback. South ended the third day on 129 for 2, needing 233 extra runs to make Central bat once more.

Rathod, a classical batter blessed with endurance, timing and style, cashed in on a listless South assault. Having made his First Class debut in 2023, Rathod has taken to the lengthy format like fish to water. The highest run-scorer of the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy season, Rathod got here near recording his maiden double hundred. A pointy indipper from left-arm pacer Gurjapneet Singh breached his defence, bringing an finish to Rathod’s eight-hour keep.

A uncommon failure within the semifinal lit the hearth beneath Rathod. “I’ve at all times achieved properly within the semifinals. But this yr I didn’t carry out on this Duleep Trophy semifinal. I had a really robust perception that I used to be going to get runs within the closing. I even informed one or two of my mates earlier than this match that I used to be going to get massive runs within the closing. The confidence was there,” the 25-year-old mentioned.

Rathod discovered good firm in Saransh Jain, who labored arduous for his 193-ball 69. Saransh was lucky early in his essay, when the South crew didn’t enchantment regardless of the ball brushing the bat on the way in which to the wicketkeeper Upendra Yadav. When the replay was flashed on the massive display screen an over later, the bowler Ankit Sharma and Upendra cursed the celebrities.

Gurjapneet was the decide of the bowlers, recording figures of 4 for 124.

The scores: South 149 & 129/2 in 33 overs (Mohit Kale 38, R. Smaran 37 batting) vs. Central Zone 511 in 145.1 overs (Danish Malewar 53, Rajat Patidar 101, Yash Rathod 194, Saransh Jain 69, Deepak Chahar 37, Gurjapneet Singh 4/124, Ankit Sharma 4/180).