Duleep Trophy 2022: West Zone crush South Zone by 294 runs to lift title

Set
an
improbable
target
of
529
runs
for
an
outright
win,
South
Zone
were
bowled
out
for
234
in
71.2
overs,
with
left-arm
Shams
Mulani
(4
for
51)
picking
up
three
of
the
four
wickets
to
fall
on
the
final
day.

Resuming
at
154
for
six,
South
batters
Ravi
Teja
and
R
Sai
Kishore
defied
the
West
attack
for
nearly
two
hours.

Most
of
the
South
Zone’s
experienced
batters
failed
and
fell
to
the
pace
duo
of
Atit
Sheth
and
Jaydev
Unadkat
on
the
fourth
evening,
leaving
the
team
in
a
hopeless
situation.

Teja
(53)
batted
with
resolve
and
was
well
supported
by
lanky
Sai
Kishore,
who
kept
the
bowlers
at
bay
for
82
deliveries
for
his
seven.

The
duo
added
57
runs
in
157
deliveries,
handling
the
West
bowlers
with
circumspection.
While
Teja
got
three
boundaries
and
hit
a
six,
Kishore
was
content
in
defending
and
spending
time
in
the
middle.

Duleep
Trophy
Winners:
The
Full
List
of
Champions
and
Runners
Up
Since
1961-62
Season

Medium-pacer
Chintan
Gaja
broke
through
with
the
score
at
203
when
he
had
Kishore
caught
by
Priyank
Panchal.

Karnataka
off-spinner
K
Gowtham
who
joined
Teja
made
sure
the
West
bowlers
were
made
to
work
hard
for
more
success.
They
added
23
runs
and
threatened
to
extend
the
game
past
the
lunch
break.

Mulani
trapped
Ravi
Teja
leg
before
wicket
after
he
had
scored
a
half-century.
Basil
Thampi
(0)
was
the
next
to
go,
caught
by
Sarfaraz
Khan
off
Mulani
before
Tanush
Kotian
had
Gowtham
(17)
to
end
South’s
resistance.

West
Zone
had
amassed
585
for
four
before
declaring
in
their
second
innings
after
conceding
a
57-run
first-innings
lead
to
their
opponents.

Duleep
Trophy
2022:
Schedule,
Results,
Squads,
Captains,
Venues,
Start
Time,
Telecast
&
Live
Streaming
Info

Prolific
run-scorer
Sarfaraz
Khan
recorded
a
fine,
unbeaten
century
(127
off
178
balls)
while
Yashasvi
Jaiswal
made
a
monumental
265
in
the
second
innings
to
help
set
the
game
up
for
the
Ajinkya
Rahane-led
West
Zone.

Kerala
Opener
Rohan
Kunnummal
waged
a
lone
battle,
scoring
93,
in
South’s
second
innings.
Meanwhile,
West
captain
Rahane
decided
to
ask
Jaiswal
to
leave
the
field
after
opposition
batsman
Teja
complained
of
sledging,
which
had
led
to
a
couple
of
warnings.

“The
way
everyone
contributed
was
magnificent.
Just
looking
to
play
one
game
at
a
time,
not
thinking
too
much
for
the
future.
Excited
about
the
season
ahead,
first
full
season
after
Covid,
looking
forward
to
playing
for
Mumbai,”
winning
captain
Rahane
said.

The
Duleep
Trophy
returned
to
the
zonal
format
this
season
after
an
experiment
with
three
teams
for
a
few
years.

“I
think
zonal
cricket
is
very
important
for
those
players
who
have
been
doing
well
for
their
states
–
Ranji
Trophy,
Irani
Trophy
and
Duleep
Trophy
are
very
important
for
picking
out
Test
cricketers
for
India
in
the
future,”
Rahane
added.

Brief
Scores:
West
Zone
270
and
585/4
declared
in
128
overs
(Yashasvi
Jaiswal
265,
Shreyas
Iyer
71,
Sarfaraz
Khan
127;
R
Sai
Kishore
2/157,
K
Gowtham
2/235)

beat
South
Zone
327
and
234
in
71.2
overs
(Rohan
Kunnummal
93;
Ravi
Teja
53,
Shams
Mulani
4/51,
Jaydev
Unadkat
2/28,
Atit
Sheth
2/29).