Kaverappa picked all of his wickets in his second spell.
| Photo Credit: Allen Egenuse J.
Vidwath Kaverappa (four for 66) helped South Zone take the honours on day one of its Duleep Trophy semifinal against North Zone at the BCCI Centre of Excellence here on Sunday.
After opting to bat, North was shot out for 195, with opener Qamran Iqbal doing the bulk of the scoring with his unorthodox technique (76, 182b, 10×4, 1×6).
But the Jammu & Kashmir batter was reprieved twice by Ricky Bhui, who grassed a catch at first slip when Qamran was on 16 and fluffed an easy run-out just before lunch.
At stumps, South was 40 for two, having lost opener Bhui and one drop Shaik Rasheed in the space of 16 balls. Much will depend on how the batting line-up — sans Karun Nair, who was not included in the playing XI — tackles the North pace trio of Gurnoor Brar, Arshdeep Singh and Anshul Kamboj in Monday’s opening session.
On a pitch that visibly lacked pace, Kaverappa bowled a disciplined line, especially in his second spell where he picked up all four of his wickets (8-2-28-4).
North was in an advantageous position twice but couldn’t capitalise. From 71 for one, it was reduced to 95 for four, with the highlight being the wicket of the dangerous Abdul Samad, who was caught splendidly by a diving R. Smaran at slip off leggie Shreyas Gopal.
Qamran and skipper Kanhaiya Wadhawan took North to 161 for four only for Kaverappa to run through the lower middle-order by removing Nishant Sindhu, Abid Mushtaq and Kamboj — all of them decent batters — after left-arm spinner Tanay Thyagarajann caught and bowled Wadhawan.
Kaverappa accounted for Qamran too, with the batter’s attempted hook after walking down the pitch ending as a catch to ‘keeper N. Jagadeesan.
On the adjacent ground, defending champion Central Zone fared much better, making 266 against East Zone. Rinku Singh top-scored with a brisk 60 (88b, 8×4), and there was also a 45-run partnership for the last wicket between Aryan Panday (22, 46b, 2×4) and Yash Thakur (30 n.o., 26b, 6×4).
The scores: North Zone 195 in 59.1 overs (Qamran Iqbal 76, Vidwath Kaverappa 4/66) vs. South Zone 40 for two in 18 overs; Toss: North.
Central Zone 266 in 80.1 overs (Aryan Juyal 46, Rinku Singh 60) vs. East Zone; Toss: East.
Published – August 30, 2026 08:01 pm IST
