Duleep Trophy final | Central’s triumph all but certain

Yash Rathod added heft to his status as a reliable red-ball batter with a fluent 194 in opposition to South Zone within the Duleep Trophy final on the BCCI CoE Ground (1) right here on Saturday.

The Central Zone southpaw carried on seamlessly from his in a single day rating of 137. Rathod’s massive knock took his aspect to a mammoth 511, leaving South with no hope of constructing a comeback. South ended the third day on 129 for 2, needing 233 extra runs to make Central bat once more.

Central Zone’s Danish Malewar makes an attempt a catch of South Zone’s Mohit Kale on the third day of the Duleep Trophy 2025 final.
| Photo Credit:
Okay. MURALI KUMAR

Rathod, a classical batter blessed with persistence, timing and style, cashed in on a listless South assault. Having made his First Class debut in 2023, Rathod has taken to the lengthy format like fish to water. The highest run-scorer of the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy season, Rathod got here near recording his maiden double hundred. A pointy indipper from left-arm pacer Gurjapneet Singh breached his defence, bringing an finish to Rathod’s eight-hour keep.

A uncommon failure within the semifinal lit the fireplace below Rathod. “I have always done well in the semifinals. But this year I did not perform in this Duleep Trophy semifinal. I had a very strong belief that I was going to get runs in the final. I even told one or two of my friends before this match that I was going to get big runs in the final. The confidence was there,” the 25-year-old mentioned.

Rathod discovered good firm in Saransh Jain, who labored exhausting for his 193-ball 69. Saransh was lucky early in his essay, when the South group didn’t enchantment regardless of the ball brushing the bat on the way in which to the wicketkeeper Upendra Yadav. When the replay was flashed on the large display an over later, the bowler Ankit Sharma and Upendra cursed the celebs.

Gurjapneet was the choose of the bowlers, recording figures of 4 for 124.

The scores: South 149 & 129/2 in 33 overs (Mohit Kale 38, R. Smaran 37 batting) vs. Central Zone 511 in 145.1 overs (Danish Malewar 53, Rajat Patidar 101, Yash Rathod 194, Saransh Jain 69, Deepak Chahar 37, Gurjapneet Singh 4/124, Ankit Sharma 4/180).