Duleep Trophy final: Ankit, Siddarth delay Central Zone’s victory march

BENGALURU: For the first three days of the Duleep Trophy final here, Central Zone called the shots. Their bowlers were on target, the batters on point, and the grip on the trophy was tightening.

At one point, they reduced their opponents, the South Zone, to spectators.But, on Sunday, as the sun came beating down, it was time for the South batters to rise and shine. Mohammed Azharuddeen and his men conceded a 363-run first innings lead and then fought hard in the second innings before setting a paltry target of 65, pushing the match into the final day.The men who took the fight to the South camp were the experienced Ankit Sharma (99, 168b; 13x4; 1x6) and the rookie talent R Smaran (67) and Andre Siddarth (84 n.o.).In the first innings, South batters had beaten a hasty retreat to the dressing room with an uninspiring display of poor shot selection and application.But on Sunday at the BCCI Centre of Excellence here, a different South Zone team seemed to have turned up.Starting the day at 129/2, South were kept afloat by Ricky Bhui (45) and Azharudden (27), who failed to convert starts. Smran was impressive with his range of shots.

But the Karnataka youngster’s mistimed sweep was picked up by Kumar Kartikeya at deep square leg.At 222/6, it looked like the end was near, but Ankit and Siddharth's resistance, which lasted almost four hours, offered hope of a remarkable South turnaround. But their dream run, which was a 192-run partnership for the seventh wicket, ended with spinner Kartikeya dismissing Ankit on 99. Ankit went for a big one off a slower delivery, but miscued high, and Rajat Patidar got under it at midwicket.With the wicket, South's hope evaporated as wickets tumbled. South lost the remaining three wickets for the addition of 12 runs to be bowled out for 426. Siddarth remained unbeaten on 84.For Central, spin duo Kartikeya (4/100) and Saransh Jain (3/130) shared seven wickets between them.Before the collapse, Pondicherry's Ankit and Tamil Nadu rookie Siddarth lifted the spirits of their dressing room with a batting display that was positive and pleasing to watch.

It helped South’s cause that the Central, in their attempts to pick up quick wickets, bowled a negative line and spread out the field, which allowed the batters to settle down and rotate strike.Brief scores: South Zone (I innings): 149 all out & (O/n 129/2) : (Tanmay Agarwal 26, Mohit Kale 38, Smaran R 67, Ricky Bhui 45, Mohammed Azharuddeen 27, Andre Siddharth 84 n.o; Kumar Kartikeya 4-110, Saransh Jain 3-100) vs Central Zone: 511 all out.