Duleep Trophy: Sharma's Near-Century Propels Central Zone to Lead; Khajuria's Ton Buoys North Zone After Early Collapse

Brilliant knocks from captain Rajat Patidar (77) and Shubham Sharma (96), helped Central Zone gain crucial lead in the second semi final of the Duleep Trophy 2025-26 on Saturday, September 6 at BCCI CEG Ground B. Central Zone finished the day on 556/8, leading West Zone by 118 runs, which brought them on the verge of earning a spot in the final of the tournament.

Patidar and Shubham continued their 69-run stand to start the day and extended it to 127 before the captain missed a sweep against Dharmendrasinh Jadeja (4/101) to get clean-bowled on 77. On the other hand, Shubham missed out on his well-deserved century, as he got dismissed on 96 due to an unfortunate runout.

Apart from them, Yash Rathour’s return to the pavilion for 2, left the Central Zone in a tricky position on 322/5, trailing by 116 runs. However, Upendra Yadav (87) and Yash Dubey’s (75) 134-run stand for the sixth wicket ensured that Central Zone surpassed West Zone’s first-innings score and took the game firmly in their grasp.

The Rajat Patidar-led side has put one foot in the final, having taken a massive lead and will look to extend on the final day of the fixture. Meanwhile, in the first semi final, North Zone finished on 278/5 as Shubham Khajuria’s marvellous century rescued his team from a precarious position of 38/2 in eight overs.

The 29-year-old scored an unbeaten 128* (145) with the help of 20 fours and a six. He got involved in a massive 171-run stand with Nishant Sindhu for the fourth wicket. Sindhu unfortunately missed out on his century, getting dismissed for 82 (148) just before stumps by South Zone’s Gurjapneet Singh (3/67).

Khajuria and Sindhu’s massive stand ensured North Zone stayed in the game. However, they still trail by a massive 258 runs heading into the last day and will have their task cut out to whittle away the deficit to progress into the final.