Bengaluru, Sep 2 : Captain Tilak Varma hit an unbeaten half-century to lead South Zone to a comfortable seven-wicket victory over North Zone in the 2026/27 Duleep Trophy semi-final and secure their place in the title clash, where they will take on East Zone.
Set a target of 181 on the final day of the semi-final at the BCCI Centre of Excellence (CoE) Ground 2, South Zone completed the chase of 181 with ease, anchored by Varma’s unbeaten 51 off 79 balls. The skipper followed up his crucial first-innings marathon of 116 not out with another commanding display of batting, while partnering with Ravichandran Smaran (32 not out) in an unbroken 80-run fourth-wicket stand to seal the win.
South Zone will now face the Ishan Kishan-led East Zone in the final starting on September 6 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. The clash marks the first time the two sides have met in the tournament’s title clash since the 1970/71 season final.
North Zone began the day hoping to set a challenging target, but their lower order was quickly unravelled by South Zone pacer MD Nidheesh. The right-arm bowler claimed the final three wickets to finish with figures of 5-56, his 10th five-wicket haul in first-class cricket, to bowl out North Zone out for 286 in their second innings.
South’s chase got off to a positive start as opener Ricky Bhui set an aggressive tone early by scoring a crisp 42 to whittle down the target. However, left-arm spin bowling all-rounder Abid Mushtaq briefly dragged North Zone back into contention just before and after lunch.
After Gurnoor Brar dismissed Bhui, Mushtaq took out Shaik Rasheed before getting Narayan Jagadeesan stumped on 43 and leave South Zone momentarily wobbling at 102/3. Despite the pressure, Varma stepped up to stabilise the innings once more alongside Smaran, the top run-scorer of the 2025/26 Ranji Trophy season.
Varma paced his innings smartly on a flattening surface, absorbing the spin threat and accelerating when necessary to guide his side home without further loss. Having fallen short in last year’s final, South Zone now enter the title decider with momentum, while the East Zone booked their place in the final after knocking out defending champions Central Zone.
Brief Scores: North Zone 195 and 297 in 72.4 overs (Sanat Sangwan 76, Ayush Doseja 52, MD Nidheesh 5-56, Kavuri Saiteja 2-57) lost to South Zone 312 and 182-3 in 43.1 overs (Tilak Varma 51 not out, Narayan Jagadeesan 43; Abid Mushtaq 2-55, Gurnoor Brar 1-22) by seven wickets.
Captain Tilak's unbeaten fifty leads South Zone into Duleep Trophy final
