Duleep Trophy: Vidwath’s seven-for, gritty batsmen give South Zone control | Cricket News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: South Zone showcased resilient batting in their second innings, reaching a commendable 181 for seven, thus taking control of the match on the third day in the Duleep Trophy final.
With a healthy lead of 248 runs, they have put themselves in a favorable position. Earlier, pacer Vidwath Kaverappa delivered an outstanding performance, claiming seven wickets (7/53) as South efficiently dismissed West for 146 runs. This enabled South to gain a first-innings lead of 67 runs.
Vidwath’s bowling figures were the best in his first-class career and the second-best for South Zone in the Duleep Trophy, just behind Venkatesh Prasad’s remarkable 7 for 38 against North Zone in 1993.
South Zone’s batting display to establish their dominant position was gradual yet significant. They faced a shaky start to their second innings, losing R Samarth and N Tilak Varma in quick succession. Samarth fell victim to a Chintan Gaja delivery that kept low, resulting in his dismissal. Meanwhile, Arzan Nagwaswalla managed to breach Tilak’s defenses, causing the ball to rearrange the stumps.
At that point, South found themselves at 8 for 2, facing an unfavorable situation as their lead had not even surpassed the 100-run mark.
However, Mayank Agarwal and Hanuma Vihari dented West’s ambitions of making further inroads. The third wicket pair added 64 runs in a little more than 14 overs to bring South back into the game.
But the partnership was not as smooth as one would expect considering two experienced batsmen were in the middle.
There were several plays and misses, loud appeals, edges that fell short of fielders but Mayank and Vihari were strong enough to waddle through those external pressure points.
But just as the partnership was blossoming, Mayank’s effort to pull Nagwaswalla’s short-pitched ball ended in the hands of Suryakumar Yadav.
However, Mayank was not one bit happy about it as Nagwaswalla had already bowled two allotted bouncers per over.
The Karnataka right-hander deemed it could have been called as the third short-pitched ball of the over, and thereby a no-ball.
Mayank reacted to the dismissal in a trifle manner, yelling at almost everyone around him and it later required the intervention of the match referee.
Atit Sheth induced a faint outside edge from Vihari as South slipped to 95 for 4. South needed another strong push forward with their lead still at a wobbly 162.
Ricky Bhui and Sachin Baby produced the most solid alliance of the South’s second innings for the fifth wicket, adding 59 runs off 97 balls.
There was hardly any moment of comfort for the duo, and a 22-minute stoppage due to poor light was the only halting point.
Sachin essayed a couple of perfect pulls while Bhui played a fine straight drive off Sheth as South swelled their lead past 200.
Both Sachin and Bhui were evicted at the score of 154. But by then South had filled enough fuel for a further push forward until bad light brought curtains to the day.

(With inputs from PTI)