South Zone has made it to the final of the Duleep Trophy 2026 with a seven-wicket win over North Zone. Tilak Varma led from the front to take his team to the final with strong batting performances across the two innings in the match. The left-handed batter had scored a century in the first innings before playing an unbeaten half-century in the final innings to chase down the target of 181.
North Zone Crumbles in 1st Innings
Having won the toss, North Zone opted to bat first but did not show much resistance with the bat in hand, being bowled out for only 195 runs. Jammu and Kashmir’s Qamran Iqbal scored 76 runs opening the innings but did not receive much support from his side. Vidwath Kaverappa starred with the ball, taking four wickets, while MD Nidheesh and Tanay Thyagarajan took two wickets apiece.
Tilak Varma Stands Tall With Century For South Zone
In reply, South Zone were in all sorts of trouble when they lost half their side for only 80 runs on the board. Captain Tilak Varma was joined by Shreyas Gopal at the crease, and the duo not only bailed their team out but also stitched together a match-winning partnership. They shared a 175-run stand for the sixth wicket before Gopal was dismissed for 87.
However, Tilak remained unbeaten and scored a century. His unbeaten knock of 116 runs came against a strong pace attack featuring Anshul Kamboj, Arshdeep Singh and Gurnoor Brar. South Zone scored 312 runs thanks to Tilak’s and Gopal’s knocks and took a 117-run lead.
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Chasing the match, North Zone produced a better effort in their third innings. Sanat Sangwan and Ayush Doseja struck fifties, while Ayush Badoni, Nishant Sindhu, and Anshul Kamboj too played useful knocks in the 30s to push the team score to 297. With the ball, MD Nidheesh picked up a five-wicket haul for the Southern team.
South Zone to Face East Zone in Duleep Trophy 2026 Final
Tilak Varma completed his half-century in the fourth innings to go with his unbeaten century in the second innings. Chasing 181, South Zone got off to a positive start with a 64-run opening stand. They lost a couple of quick wickets, with Shaik Rasheed scoring only a solitary run.
Varma (51*) and Smaran Ravichandran (32*) shared an unbeaten 80-run stand for the fourth wicket to seal the chase. South Zone will now face East Zone in the final starting from 6th September.
Pragun is a passionate cricket follower and writer who deeply loves the game. Having completed his education with a degree in Journalism and Mass Communication, he has an experience of almost two years in diverse fields. He is known for his statistical and analytical articles. Pragun tries to bring life to his articles by adding a layer of enthusiasm from the perspective of a hardcore fan. Apart from writing cricket articles, he sometimes appears on YouTube videos on a friend’s podcast.
