Duleep Trophy Highlights, Semifinals Day 1: Ruturaj falls short of double ton; South Zone batters make merry

Duleep Trophy Highlights, Semifinals Day 1: Ruturaj falls short of double ton; South Zone batters make merry

The day belonged to Ruturaj Gaikwad, who marked his return to competitive cricket with a fluent 184 off 206 deliveries, that included 13 fours and two sixes. His most significant partnership was with No. 7 batter Tanush Kotian, who is unbeaten on 65. The duo had added 148 runs in quick time for the sixth wicket after the team was in a spot of bother at 179/5. Considering West Zone had been reduced to 10/2 early in the day, the Shardul Thakur-led side will be more than satisfied with how the day has panned out for them. 

N. Jagadeesan ends the day unbeaten on 148 off 260 balls, putting South Zone in a commanding position. Skipper Mohammed Azharuddeen is on 11 at the other end. North Zone used as many as seven bowlers on the opening day as wickets eluded it. Nishant Sindhu got some success, returning figures of 2/59 in 20 overs. North will also rue bowling as many as 23 extras on the opening day of the contest. 

Mohit Kale departs for 15 as Nishant Sindhu gets his second wicket. Meanwhile, N. Jagadeesan continues to make merry, and is batting on 129, with skipper Mohammed Azharuddeen at the other end. South Zone 268/3.

Ruturaj Gaikwad falls agonosingly short of his double century, with off-spinner Saransh Jain snaring him on 184. Skipper Shardul Thakur joins Tanush Kotian, who is on 55. West Zone 329/6 against Central Zone.

There is no stopping Ruturaj Gaikwad, who has moved to 178 off 192 balls in no time. He reached his century off 131 balls, so he really seems to have switched a gear after that. Tanush Kotian at the other end is on 47, and the duo has added 136 runs for the sixth wicket. West Zone 315/5 against Central Zone.

N. Jagadeesan gets to his century, but Devdutt Padikkal has to depart soon after for 57 off 71 balls, with Anshul Kamboj picking his wicket. South Zone 231/2 vs North.

Ruturaj Gaikwad hasn’t lost his focus after notching up his ton and has put his head down and continued to grind away. Currently on 121, he has put on 58 runs for the sixth wicket with all-rounder Tanush Kotian, who is on 26. West Zone 237/5 against Central Zone.

After a 103-run opening stand, N. Jagadeesan and Devdutt Padikkal have added another 90 runs for the second wicket. Jagadeesan is unbeaten on 86, while Padikkal has moved to 44. South Zone 193/1 against North Zone.

Ruturaj Gaikwad brings up his eighth First-Class ton off 131 balls, with the help of 13 fours. With Tanush Kotian unbeaten on 14 at the other end, West Zone is currently at 207/5.

Shams Mulani is the fifth man to fall as Saransh Jain has the lef-hander stumped for 18. In comes Tanush Kotian, who joins Ruturaj Gaikwad, batting on 95. West Zone 190/5.

Nishant Sindhu gets the breakthrough for North Zone as Tanmay Agarwal departs for 43. Devdutt Padikkal joins N. Jagadeesan, who is batting on 47. South Zone 109/1.

Shreyas Iyer is clean bowled by Khaleel Ahmed for a breezy 28-ball 25, which included four boundaries. Meanwhile, Ruturaj Gaikwad has nudging closer to his century, batting on 84 currently, with Shams Mulani at the other end. West Zone 168/4.

Ruturaj Gaikwad is unbeaten on 55, with Shreyas Iyer on 16 at the other end. After a shaky start that reduced it to 10/2, West Zone will be happy with how it has managed to bounce back, thanks to Gaikwad and Aarya Desai’s 82-run alliance for the third wicket. With India internationals Gaikwad and Shreyas at the crease, West will hope its star power can help it post a big total. 

Openers Tanmay Agarwal and N. Jagadeesan ensured that South Zone dominated the first session, taking their team to 79/0 in 24 overs at Lunch. North’s bowlers have been wayward, conceding 16 extras already, and will need to turn up with more intensity in the second session. 

Ruturaj Gaikwad brings up his 50 off 76 balls with the help of six boundaries. His 82-run partnership with Aarya Desai for the third wicket was crucial for West Zone, and he will want to build on his good start and convert it into a big score. He has Shreyas Iyer for company at the other end. West Zone 104/3.

Left-arm spinner Harsh Dubey gets the breakthrough for Central Zone, as he prises out Aarya Desai, who departs for 39 runs off 84 balls. West Zone 100/3.

Ruturaj Gaikwad and Aarya Desai have now added 67 runs for the third wicket after Yashasvi Jaiswal and Harvik Desai departed early. West Zone 77/2 in 23 overs.

Openers Tanmay Agarwal and N. Jagadeesan bring up a 50-run opening partnership for South Zone. North Zone’s bowlers have lacked discipline, having conceded 16 extras in just 16 overs. South Zone 54/0 in 16 overs.

Aarya Desai and Ruturaj Gaikwad have led West Zone’s recovery with a 37-run partnership to take the score to 48/2 inside 15 overs. 

After 10 overs, South Zone openers Tanmay Agarwal and N. Jagadeesan have taken the score to 34/0. Tanmay has done the bulk of the scoring, with 16 runs from 43 balls, while Jagadeesan has been cautious for his nine runs from 24 deliveries. 

South Zone Playing XI: Tanmay Agarwal, N Jagadeesan (wk), Devdutt Padikkal, Mohammed Azharuddeen (c), Mohit Kale, Ricky Bhui, Salman Nizar, Tanay Thyagarajan, Gurjapneet Singh, MD Nidheesh, Vasuki Koushik

North Zone Playing XI: Ankit Kumar (c), Shubham Khajuria, Yash Dhull, Ayush Badoni, Nishant Sindhu, Kanhaiya Wadhawan (wk), Sahil Lotra, Mayank Dagar, Auqib Nabi Dar, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Anshul Kamboj. 

After Yashasvi Jaiswal fell early, skipper Harvik Desai is removed for 1 by Deepak Chahar. West Zone 22/2.

North Zone won the toss and elected to bowl against South Zone. 

Yashasvi Jaiswal is trapped in front by Khaleel Ahmed off the third ball of the match and the left-hander departs after smashing a four off the first delivery. West Zone 4/1.

West Zone Playing XI: A. Nagwaswalla, Aarya Desai, D A Jadeja, Harvik Desai (Wk), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shams Mulani, Shardul Thakur (C), Shreyas lyer, Tanush Kotian, Tushar Deshpande, Yashasvi Jaiswal. 

Central Zone Playing XI: Ayush Pandey, D L Chahar, Danish Malewar, Harsh Dubey, Rajat Patidar (C), S K K Ahmed, Saransh Jain, Shubham Sharma, Upendra Yadav (Wk), Y A Rathod, Yash Thakur. 

West Zone won the toss and elected to bat against Central Zone. 

South Zone vs North Zone toss delayed due to wet outfield. 

North Zone: Ankit Kumar (c), Shubham Khajuria, Ayush Badoni, Yash Dhull, Ankit Kalsi, Nishant Sandhu, Sahil Lotra, Mayank Dagar, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Anshul Kamboj, Auqib Nabi, Kanhaiya Wadhawan; (Standbys: Shubham Arora (wk), Jaskaranvir Singh Paul, Ravi Chauhan, Abid Mushtaq, Nishunk Birla, Umar Nazir, Divesh Sharma). 

Central Zone: Dhruv Jurel (c) (wk), Rajat Patidar, Aryan Juyal, Danish Malewar, Sanjeet Desai, Aditya Thakare, Deepak Chahar, Saransh Jain, Ayush Pandey, Shubham Sharma, Yash Rathod, Harsh Dubey, Manav Suthar, Khaleel Ahmed; (Standbys: Madhav Kaushik, Yash Thakur, Yuvraj Chaudhary, Mahipal Lomror, Kuldeep Sen, Upendra Yadav).

West Zone: Shardul Thakur (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Aarya Desai, Harvik Desai (wicket-keeper), Shreyas Iyer, Sarfaraz Khan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Jaymeet Patel, Manan Hingrajia, Saurabh Nawale (wicket-keeper), Shams Mulani, Tanush Kotian, Dharmandrasinh Jadeja, Tushar Deshpande, Arzan Nagwaswala; (Standbys: Mahesh Pithiya, Shivalik Shama, Mukesh Choudhary, Siddharath Desai, Chintan Gaja, Urvil Patel, Musheer Khan).

South Zone: Mohammed Azharuddeen (c), Tanmay Agarwal, Devdutt Padikkal, Mohit Kale, Salman Nizar, Narayan Jagadeesan, Tripurana Vijay, Tanay Thyagarajan, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Nidheesh MD, Ricky Bhui, Basil NP, Gurjapneet Singh, Snehal Kauthankar, Ankit Sharma, Shaikh Rasheed; (Standbys: Mohit Redkar, R. Smaran, Edhen Apple Tom, Andre Siddarth).

Published on Sep 04, 2025