While chasing a target of 65 runs, Central Zone lost four wickets. Opening the innings for Central, Danish Malewar returned to the pavilion after scoring five runs in 12 balls. Skipper Rajat Patidar scored 13 runs off 27 balls, including two boundaries
Rajat Patidar-led Central Zone team celebrate their Duleep Trophy 2025 triumph (Pic: X/@BCCIdomestic)
In the Duleep Trophy 2025 final against South Zone, Central Zone has come victorious by six wickets at the BCCI Centre of Excellence.
With this, they won the Duleep Trophy title after a hiatus of 11 years.
While chasing a target of 65 runs, Central Zone lost four wickets. Opening the innings for Central, Danish Malewar returned to the pavilion after scoring five runs in 12 balls. Fellow opening batsman, Akshay Wadkar, scored an unbeaten 19 runs off 52 deliveries, which was laced with three boundaries.
Later, facing 14 balls, Shubham Sharma scored eight runs, with the help of two boundaries. Saransh Jain registered four runs in two balls, including a boundary.
Skipper Rajat Patidar scored 13 runs off 27 balls, including two boundaries. Shouldering Wadkar was Yash Rathod, who stayed unbeaten on 13 runs after playing 16 balls, including a boundary.
South Zone's Gurjapneet Singh claimed two wickets by bowling six overs after conceding 21 runs. On the other hand, Ankit Sharma also bagged two wickets for 22 runs in 10 overs. Vasuki Koushik went wicketless, as he bowled 4.3 overs and leaked 19 runs.
Reflecting on the triumph, skipper Rajat Patidar expressed happiness by saying that his players have performed throughout the tournament.
"Every captain likes winning trophies. But our players showed a lot of character across the tournament, and I am very happy about it," he said.
"Here, the wicket was slightly dry, so we decided to bat first. I am pleased for Danish and Yash, they batted well here all the tournament," added the Madhya Pradesh-born cricketer.
Earlier in the year, he also led the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) to their first-ever Indian Premier League (IPL) title.
South skipper Azharuddeen said reaching the final of the Duleep Trophy 2025 will work as a motivation for them in a long domestic season, which now enters the Ranji Trophy phase from October 15.
"We will get better from this experience, a long season ahead. Central spinners were hitting the right areas, and we made a few bad decisions as a batting unit as well. But we fought well in the second innings, and happy about that we did not give up easily," he said.
(With PTI Inputs)
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