The Duleep Trophy final was Central Zone skipper Piyush Chawla's 100th first-class match and the thrilling nine-run win was termed by the UP leg-spinner as one of the "most memorable wins" in his career.
"At the age of 26 (25 years 313 days), I have completed 100 first-class matches and this win is certainly one of the most memorable wins in my first-class career," Chawla said after the match.
He praised K l Rahul for his effort stating that "He (Rahul) was in a league of his own in this match. For us, Robin's innings was also crucial. But you can't compare the three centuries in this match. I believe the turning point in this game was keeping the first-innings lead down to 103," Chawla said.
Vinay rues poor batting by South
South Zone skipper Vinay Kumar blamed his batsmen the defeat. With nine wickets in hand, South needed only 117 runs to win the final on the fifth and final day but Central bowlers triggered a dramatic collapse to win the game by nine runs.
"We could have done much better. losing nine wickets for 99 runs was poor batting from our side. We batted badly. Scoring 100-odd runs should not have been that difficult. Our middle and lower-middle order didn't play well. We all are feeling bad. It is a good learning lesson for all of us," a dejected Vinay said.
While giving credit to Central bowlers, the 30-year-old right-arm medium pacer refused to blame the Kotla pitch that was slightly on the slower side on the last day.
"The wicket was good though it was keeping low. But it was alright considering it was a fifth-day wicket. We should have played more positively. Credit goes to their bowlers who bowled in the right areas to put pressure on our batsmen," Vinay, who is also the captain of the Karnataka team, said.
Vinay (24) said Pankaj Singh's double strike was the turning point of the match.