Tilak Varma guides South Zone to Duleep Trophy final
Skipper Tilak Varma played a second successive influential knock, guiding South Zone to the Duleep Trophy final with a seven-wicket win over North Zone on the fourth and final day of the semifinal on Wednesday. Chasing 181, South Zone got the job done in the first two sessions of the day after Tilak (51 not out) and Ravichandran Smaran (32 not out) milked 80 runs for the unbroken fourth-wicket stand.
South ended with 182 for three towards the end of the second session, and they will face East Zone in the title clash in Chennai from September 6.
Tilak, who had made an unbeaten 116 in the first innings to help South gain a match-clinching 117-run lead, came to the middle when his side was wobbling at 102 for three.
But the left-hander, who is also India’s vice-captain for the upcoming T20I series against Afghanistan, once again displayed temperament and technique to counter North bowlers led by fiery pacer Gurnoor Brar and the wily left-arm spinner Abid Mushtaq. Brar tested his resolve with a series of rib-crackers while Mushtaq exploited the variable bounce on the pitch to challenge Tilak’s footwork. He aced those challenges spectacularly, essaying some sumptuous drives on the off-side.
Once he settled down, Tilak played a reverse sweep and paddle sweep off Mushtaq to take South closer to the target. Smaran, at the other end, was an able ally, rotating the strike with efficiency and occasionally freeing his hands. The young left-hander’s cracking off-drive off Nishant Sindhu was a sight for sore eyes. Both southpaws’ confident knocks meant that South also overcame early dismissals of Narayan Jagadeesan (43) and Ricky Bhui (42), who added 64 runs for the opening wicket and Shaik Rasheed. Jagadeesan, who was dropped in 14 by stumper Kanaiah Wadhawan off Brar, had some heated exchanges with the strapping fast bowler.
Eventually, Tilak, who batted on all four days of the match, fittingly, brought up the winning runs when he creamed part-time leg-spinner Qamran Iqbal for a boundary through the covers. However, North had their own little moments once they resumed their second innings from 256 for seven for an overall lead of 139 runs. Anshul Kamboj’s 29-ball 36 helped them stretch that lead to a healthy 180. The chase indeed seemed to be getting trickier on a crumbling pitch once South lost three wickets early. But North’s sloppy fielding too played a big role in letting South off the hook. But they found two willing generals in Tilak and Smaran to romp home.
