Duleep Trophy 2022 Final: West Zone on verge of victory after another dominant day
West Zone need only four wickets on Day 5 of the Duleep Trophy 2022 final to beat South Zone and lift the championship. Set a mammoth target of 529, South Zone went to stumps on Day 4 in Coimbatore at 154 for six. The batting side needed a further 375 runs for an improbable win on the last day of the match.
South Zone opener Rohan Kunnummal (93 off 100) played an excellent knock. However, he got no support from the other end, and as a result, West Zone bowlers were never under any sort of pressure. The experienced Mayank Agarwal (14) fell cheaply, caught at mid-off as he got a leading edge while attempting to clip Jaydev Unadkat.
Atit Sheth then bowled an excellent delivery to find the edge of Hanuma Vihari (one). First innings centurion Baba Indrajith (four) also fell to the same bowler, slicing a drive to backward point. At the other end, Kunnummal eased to a 51-ball 50. However, West Zone kept chipping away at the wickets.
Manish Pandey was trapped leg before by Unadkat for 14, while Ricky Bhui (13) nicked Shams Mulani to slip. Kunnummal was looking good for a hundred. However, on 93, he was bowled by Mulani, beaten by a slider as he went for a cut.
At stumps on Day 4 of the Duleep Trophy 2022 final, T Ravi Teja was batting on eight and R Sai Kishore on one.
Sarfaraz Khan slams ton for West Zone after Yashasvi Jaiswal 265
Earlier, resuming their second innings on 376 for three, West Zone declared on 585 for four declared. Yashasvi Jaiswal, who was unbeaten on 209 overnight, went on to score 265. Sarfaraz Khan, who resumed his innings on 30*, went on to complete a century and was batting on 127 when West Zone declared their second innings.
Jaiswal and Sarfaraz’s stand for the fourth wicket was worth 164 runs. The partnership was broken when the double centurion was stumped off Krishnappa Gowtham’s bowling. His fabulous innings featured 30 fours and four sixes.
Sarfaraz and Het Patel (51*) continued to frustrate South Zone bowlers, adding an unbroken 103 for the fifth wicket. Following West Zone’s declaration, their bowlers carried on the great work, with Unadkat, Sheth and Mulani claiming two wickets each.