Tilak Varma century puts South Zone ahead; Sooryavanshi’s 92 keeps East-Central level
Tilak Varma's unbeaten 106 propelled South Zone to 285 for nine, giving them a 90-run first-innings advantage over North Zone on the second day of the Duleep Trophy semifinals, while Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's 92 helped East Zone recover but left their match level with Central Zone.
South resumed on 40 for two and were 80 for five before Tilak anchored the recovery; he remained unbeaten on 106 from 225 deliveries with seven boundaries and did not score his first four until the 154th ball he faced. North had been dismissed for 195 on the opening day, and Gurnoor Brar was the chief destroyer for North with figures of 4/70. N Jagadeesan, who had resumed on 34, was bowled for 36 when Brar found a delivery that moved away, and R Smaran made 27 off 35 before being beaten by one that straightened and hit the stumps.
Brar then had Kodimela Himateja caught behind for a duck, leaving South in deep trouble until Shreyas Gopal joined Tilak and seized the initiative. The sixth-wicket pair added 175 runs, with Gopal taking the attack to the bowlers and Tilak rotating the strike to steer the innings past North's total. Gopal finished 87 from 169 balls, striking 11 fours before Arshdeep Singh induced an outside edge that was taken by Abdul Samad at slip; Arshdeep ended with 2/59.
After the Gopal dismissal, North removed Tanay Thyagarajan for six and Arshdeep also had Vidwath Kaverappa edge behind, giving Abdul Samad his third catch of the day. Despite a late collapse, Tilak remained composed and was unbeaten at stumps alongside Kavuri Saiteja, leaving South with a first-innings lead of 90.
In the other semifinal, 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi scored a rapid 92 off 81 balls in 118 minutes but East were eventually bowled out for 266, matching Central's first-innings total. Sooryavanshi became the youngest player to record a fifty in Duleep Trophy history, surpassing Laxman Singh's 1969 mark, survived a dropped chance on 40 by Yash Rathod and launched his innings with a huge six over mid-wicket off Yash Thakur.
Sooryavanshi hit four boundaries in the same spell, continued to attack after Thakur changed ends and cleared the ropes off Harsh Dubey and Aryan Pandey before being caught by Arshad Khan at deep mid-wicket attempting a slog-sweep against Dubey. He had shared a 161-run opening stand with Abhimanyu Easwaran, who made 69 from 106 balls, but East collapsed from 213 for five and lost their last five wickets for 53 runs.
Harsh Dubey finished with 4/66 for Central, while Yash Thakur and Aryan Pandey took three wickets apiece. Central began their second innings but stumbled to 45 for three by the close, Mukesh Kumar dismissing skipper Rajat Patidar late in the day and leaving Aman Mokhade unbeaten on 23 and Aryan Pandey on four.
Tilak's century has put South Zone in a strong position with a 90-run first-innings lead over North, while East and Central are level after East's 266 exactly matched Central's first-innings total and Central closed at 45 for three, leaving both semifinals delicately placed heading into the next phase.
