[Watch] South Zone fast bowler Vidwath Kaverappa claims seven wickets against West Zone in Duleep Trophy final
Vidwath Kaverappa inflicted a drastic batting collapse of a star-studded West Zone batting line-up to help South Zone gain a 67-run lead in the first innings of the Duleep Trophy final.
On Friday, July 14, Kaverappa continued from where he left on the rain-curtailed second day at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium. His incisive bowling backed with pace and bounce reduced West Zone to 129/7 at the end of Day 2 in response to South Zone's 213.
The Karnataka pacer bowled a fuller length which deviated Dharmendrasinh Jadeja and rattled the stumps as the 24-year-old bagged his fifth wicket.
Kaverappa later claimed the wickets of Atit Sheth and Arzan Nagwaswalla as West Zone innings folded up at 146.
Vidwath Kaverappa records second-best figures by a South Zone pacer in Duleep Trophy
On Thursday, July 13, Vidwath Kaverappa picked the wickets of Harvik Desai, Suryakumar Yadav, Sarfaraz Khan, and Cheteshwar Pujara to rattle West Zone's batting order. He finished with figures of 7 for 53 to record his career-best figures in first-class cricket.
These are the second-best numbers by a South Zone pacer after Venkatesh Prasad's 7/38 against North Zone in 1993.
Kaverappa bagged 5 for 28 in the semifinal against North Zone as South Zone won by two wickets. He has accounted for 48 dismissals in 23 first-class innings at an average of 18.02.
The Karnataka youngster picked 30 wickets in the 2022-23 Ranji Trophy at 20.3 with his best figures being 6/94. He was just one wicket short behind teammates Vyshak Vijaykumar and Krishnappa Gowtham's 31-wicket tally as Karnataka's joint-highest wicket-taker in the tournament.
Kavareppa was also part of the Punjab Kings' squad for IPL 2023 but didn't get an opportunity to play. He has claimed 18 wickets in eight T20 matches at an economy rate of 6.36.