The Tamil Nadu u-23 team began its season on the best possible note, comprehensively beating Rest of India u-23 by six wickets on the final day at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium here. 

Fixed a target of 149 in 46 overs for an outright victory, the home team did more than enough in the last two sessions on Sunday. Having conceded the first-innings lead, RoI had no option but to make TN bat again to stand any chance of bagging the trophy. 

The away side did so after declaring its second essay at 431 for seven, built on a splendid double century from opener Angkrish Raghuvanshi (203, 281b, 16×4, 4×6) and a ton off the bat of No. 4 Digvijay Patil (106, 138b, 8×4). While both batters enjoyed slices of luck during their 249-run third-wicket stand, Raghuvanshi was rewarded for his immaculate strokeplay on a surface where the ball turned throughout and kept low at times. 

Raghuvanshi.

Digvijay.

Left-arm spinner P. Vignesh (five for 144) was the chief contributor for TN, with his victims including Raghuvanshi. A few minutes after reaching his double hundred with a single over sweeper cover, the right-hander holed out to the deep midwicket fielder. RoI lost five wickets for just 32 runs before declaring its second innings. 

Vignesh.

TN had a few hiccups in the chase, but the opposition rarely threatened to pull off a miracle.   

The scores: Rest of India u-23 179 & 431/7 decl. in 90 overs (Angkrish Raghuvanshi 203, Ayush Jethwa 58, Digvijay Patil 106, P. Vignesh 5/144) lost to Tamil Nadu u-23 462 & 150/4 in 34.5 overs (K.T.A. Madhava Prasad 42). PoM: Madhava Prasad.

 Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s care-free, adolescent excellence graced big-ticket First Class cricket, as the 15-year-old made an entertaining 81-ball 92 on day two of East Zone’s Duleep Trophy semifinal versus Central Zone at the BCCI Centre of Excellence here on Monday.

In an innings that lasted 118 minutes and was studded with seven sixes and as many fours, Sooryavanshi took on every bowler, and put on 161 glorious runs for the opening wicket with Abhimanyu Easwaran (69, 106b, 8×4).

He was dropped on 40 by Yash Rathod at backward point off Saransh Jain while trying a wild cross-batted heave. But what is boyhood if frightening frankness isn’t accompanied by tiny flaws?

Pacer Yash Thakur was the first to bear Sooryavanshi’s brunt, smashed as he was for a flurry of fours and two sixes, one down the ground and the other hooked.

East Zone’s Vaibhav Sooryavanshi plays a shot during the Duleep Trophy 2026 semifinal against Central Zone.
| Photo Credit:
K. MURALI KUMAR

Saransh, who had just returned from Sri Lanka following his debut Test, induced a false stroke in his very first over only for Yash Rathod to make a mess of it.

Sooryavanshi, however, was unaffected. Reputation has rarely bothered him, and in the IPL, he didn’t spare even the likes of Jasprit Bumrah and Josh Hazlewood.

A falling reverse sweep off Saransh was his response, and though that did not fetch the desired result, he hoisted the offie over long-on to bring up his half-century from 42 balls.

Sooryavanshi then collected maximums off medium-pacer Aryan Panday and left-arm spinner Harsh Dubey, before launching another blitzkrieg against Saransh.

The seasoned Madhya Pradesh spinner was sent soaring above long-off, violently reverse-swept for four, and then muscled over cow-corner.

Another attempt at a hoick ended Sooryavanshi’s stay as he was caught at deep mid-wicket off Dubey.

But it was not before he became the youngest half-centurion in Duleep Trophy history, breaking Rajasthan batter Laxman Singh’s record for Central Zone from January 1969 when the latter was 16.

Sujata Dey scored a half-century and Sreyoshi Aich captured four wickets as Adamas Howrah Warriors defeated Shrachi Rarh Tigers by 19 runs in the semifinals to book a spot in the women’s title clash of the Bengal T20 League at the Jadavpur University Ground here on Saturday.

Warriors posted a challenging 159 for five before restricting Rarh Tigers to 140 for nine.

Warriors’ openers Ankita Chakraborty (46, 42b, 6×4) and Sujata (77, 56b, 6×4, 4×6) gathered 106 runs to lay a solid foundation by the 14th over. The left-handed Sujata impressed by hitting her sixes on the onside.

Bristi Majhi’s lone fight (97 n.o., 61b, 6×4, 8×6) was in vain as she ran out of partners. Warriors’ Sreyoshi (four for 18) and Remondina Khatun (two for 23) did most of the damage.

Warriors will meet Murshidabad Kueens, which beat Servotech Siliguri Strikers by seven wickets. Tanushree Sarkar (three wickets and 26 runs) and Shivanshi Tiwari (58 n.o., 55b, 8×4) contributed to Kueens’ win.

In the men’s competition, captain Shahbaz Ahmed’s all-round showing, Rohit Kumar’s four wicket-haul and Sumanta Gupta’s unbeaten 47 helped Shrachi Rarh Tigers record a commanding seven-wicket win over Novus Royals Purulia and earn a place in the final.

The scores (semifinals): Men: Nous Royals Purulia 107 in 18.2 overs (Lokesh 48, Shahbaz Ahmed 2/31, Rohit Kumar 4/24, Sukhmeet Singh 2/7) lost to Shrachi Rarh Tigers 110/3 in 12.1 overs (Sumanta Gupta 47 n.o., Shahbaz Ahmed 31).

Women: Adamas Howrah Warriors 159/5 in 20 overs (Ankita Chakraborty 46, Sujata Dey 77, Piyali Ghosh 3/24) bt Shrachi Rarh Tigers 140/9 in 20 overs (Bristi Majhi 97 n.o., Remondina Khatun 2/23, Sreyoshi Aich 4/18).

Servotech Siliguri Strikers 129/7 in 20 overs (Dyuti Paul 49, Priyanka Bala 45, Jahnabi Paswan 2/22, Tanushree Sarkar 3/30) lost to Murshidabad Kueens 130/3 in 18.1 overs (Shivanshi Tiwari 58, Tanushree Sarkar 26).