Central Zone Poised for Duleep Trophy Win Despite CSK Star Siddarth's Resistance OR Duleep Trophy Final: Central Zone on Brink of Victory as South Zone Collapse Despite Siddarth's Fightback

Central Zone need just 64 runs to win the Duleep Trophy after bowling out South Zone for 426 in their second innings late on Day 4. With all ten wickets in hand and a full day to go, Central are firmly on track to claim the title.

Despite the uphill task, CSK’s Andre Siddarth stood tall for South Zone with a gritty unbeaten 84 off 190 balls. His determined knock, combined with a fine 99 from Ankit Sharma, helped South Zone avoid an innings defeat after they were forced to follow on, trailing by 362 runs from the first innings.

Siddarth showed great patience and control, reaching his fifty off 110 balls. Coming in at 221/5, he formed the innings-defining partnership with Ankit Sharma — the pair added 192 runs for the seventh wicket, dragging their side back into the contest. Sharma, the more fluent of the two, struck 13 fours and a six, and looked set for a well-deserved century before falling just one run short, caught by Rajat Patidar off Kartikeya.

Their effort gave South Zone a lead of 64, but the damage from the first innings had already been done. Central Zone’s bowling remained disciplined, with Kumar Kartikeya (4/110) and Saransh Jain (3/130) leading the attack, ably supported by Deepak Chahar and Kuldeep Sen.

Earlier, Ravichandran Smaran (67) and Ricky Bhui (45) had added stability after the top order crumbled, but wickets kept falling at key moments. Once Ankit Sharma was dismissed, the rest of the tail added just 12 more runs, and South Zone were bowled out in the 121st over.

With the match tilted heavily in Central Zone’s favour, they are expected to complete the chase comfortably on Day 5 — unless South Zone’s bowlers produce something extraordinary.

Brief Scores

South Zone - 1st Innings: 149 all out (63 overs)

Tanmay Agarwal 31, Saransh Jain 5/49, Kumar Kartikeya 4/53

Central Zone - 1st Innings: 511 all out (145.1 overs)

Yash Rathod 194, Rajat Patidar 101, Gurjapneet Singh 4/124, Ankit Sharma 4/180

South Zone - 2nd Innings: 426 all out (121 overs)

Ankit Sharma 99, C Andre Siddarth 84, Kumar Kartikeya 4/110, Saransh Jain 3/130*

Stumps Day 4: South Zone lead by 64 runs.