Duleep Trophy final | Central’s triumph all but certain

Yash Rathod added heft to his reputation as a dependable red-ball batter with a fluent 194 against South Zone in the Duleep Trophy final at the BCCI CoE Ground (1) here on Saturday.

The Central Zone southpaw carried on seamlessly from his overnight score of 137. Rathod’s big knock took his side to a mammoth 511, leaving South with no hope of making a comeback. South ended the third day on 129 for two, needing 233 more runs to make Central bat again.

Central Zone’s Danish Malewar attempts a catch of South Zone’s Mohit Kale on the third day of the Duleep Trophy 2025 final.
| Photo Credit:
K. MURALI KUMAR

Rathod, a classical batter blessed with patience, timing and grace, cashed in on a listless South attack. Having made his First Class debut in 2023, Rathod has taken to the long format like fish to water. The highest run-scorer of the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy season, Rathod came close to recording his maiden double hundred. A sharp indipper from left-arm pacer Gurjapneet Singh breached his defence, bringing an end to Rathod’s eight-hour stay.

A rare failure in the semifinal lit the fire under Rathod. “I have always done well in the semifinals. But this year I did not perform in this Duleep Trophy semifinal. I had a very strong belief that I was going to get runs in the final. I even told one or two of my friends before this match that I was going to get big runs in the final. The confidence was there,” the 25-year-old said.

Rathod found good company in Saransh Jain, who worked hard for his 193-ball 69. Saransh was fortunate early in his essay, when the South team did not appeal despite the ball brushing the bat on the way to the wicketkeeper Upendra Yadav. When the replay was flashed on the big screen an over later, the bowler Ankit Sharma and Upendra cursed the stars.

Gurjapneet was the pick of the bowlers, recording figures of four for 124.

The scores: South 149 & 129/2 in 33 overs (Mohit Kale 38, R. Smaran 37 batting) vs. Central Zone 511 in 145.1 overs (Danish Malewar 53, Rajat Patidar 101, Yash Rathod 194, Saransh Jain 69, Deepak Chahar 37, Gurjapneet Singh 4/124, Ankit Sharma 4/180).