Duleep Trophy 2026: Tilak Varma powers South Zone to final
What's the story
South Zone secured a spot in the 2026 Duleep Trophy final, thanks to captain Tilak Varma's brilliant performance. He scored an unbeaten 116 in the first innings and followed it up with a solid 51* in the second. The match played at the BCCI Centre of Excellence Ground 2, Bengaluru, saw South Zone chase 181 on Day 4. South Zone will now face East Zone in the final at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai, from September 6.
1st innings
Tilak, Gopal stars as South Zone gain lead
In the first innings, South Zone were reduced to 80/5 in response to North Zone's 195.
Tilak then built a massive partnership of 175 runs with Shreyas Gopal, who scored 87 runs. The former's 116* off 250 balls stood out.
This led South Zone to 312 with a healthy first-innings lead of 117 runs. Meanwhile, Gurnoon Brar took four wickets for North Zone.
2nd innings
Top order guides South Zone in run-chase
In their second innings, North Zone were bowled out for 297 runs.
While fifties from Sanat Sangwan and Ayush Doseja gave them some impetus, MD Nidheesh took a fifer.
Chasing 181, South Zone started cautiously with a 64-run partnership between Ricky Bhui and Narayan Jagadeesan.
Although Bhui (42) and Shaik Rasheed (1) departed in successive overs, Tilak steadied the ship.
Along with Narayan Jagadeesan (43) and Smaran Ravichandran (32*), Tilak powered South Zone's seven-wicket win.
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Tilak finishes off in style
Jagadeesan and Tilak took South Zone past 100 in the second session. While Jagadeesan was stumped for 43 runs off Mushtaq's bowling, Tilak and Smaran added 79 runs to seal the match. Tilak smashed an unbeaten 51 off 79 balls (8 fours).
Numbers
Notable numbers of Tilak
According to Cricinfo, Tilak raced to his eighth century in First-Class cricket. In the second innings, he completed his sixth half-century, making his conversion outstanding.
The 23-year-old left-handed batter now has 1,729 runs from 24 red-ball games (37 innings) at an incredible average of 55.77.
Tilak, India's vice-captain in T20Is, is yet to make his Test debut.
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South Zone to face East Zone
As mentioned, South Zone will lock horns with East Zone in the 2026 Duleep Trophy final in Chennai, starting September 6. East Zone, led by Ishan Kishan, earlier knocked out defending champions Central Zone in the first semi-final.