An omnipresent Tilak Varma fashioned South Zone’s entry into the 2026-27 Duleep Trophy final with a thumping seven-wicket triumph over North Zone at the BCCI Centre of Excellence here.
The scores: North Zone 195 & 297 in 72.4 overs (Sanat Sangwan 76, Ayush Doseja 52, M.D. Nidheesh 5/56) lost to South Zone 312 & 182/3 in 43.1 overs (Ricky Bhui 42, N. Jagadeesan 43, Tilak Varma 51 n.o.).
Tilak first batted during a nervous few minutes towards the end of day one. Tilak drove beautifully, almost always getting to the pitch of the ball and caressing the red cherry. His batting range could be seen in the back-to-back fours off left-arm spinner Abid Mushtaq, one reverse-swept and the other paddled. North was tardy on the field. It would have helped if Brar’s aggression had percolated through the side, but it never did.
The 23-year-old from Hyderabad, who had starred in the first innings with an ultra-patient, unbeaten 116 (250b), scored a breezy half-century (51 n.o., 79b, 8×4) on Wednesday to help South chase 181 and set up a final date with East Zone in Chennai starting this Sunday. He then occupied the crease for the whole of day two, helped swell South’s first-innings lead to 117 on day three before coming up with a first-rate finishing act on the final day. A 64-run, opening-wicket partnership between Ricky Bhui (42, 53b, 7×4) and N. Jagadeesan (43, 83b, 4×4) set South on course before Tilak and R. Smaran (32 n.o., 42b, 4×4, 1×6) combined for an unbroken 80-run stand. There were misfields galore, and as many as 12 byes, with Kanhaiya Wadhawan and Abdul Samad alternating wicketkeeping duties. The spiciest moment came when pacer Gurnoor Brar was livid with Wadhwan for dropping Jagadeesan on 14.
North began the final morning from 256 for seven, ahead by 139 runs. Nidheesh cleaned up the tail to claim his 10th First Class five-wicket haul (five for 56) and limit North’s lead to under 200. And when he was not batting, he was marshalling his team’s resources as captain, making it an all-encompassing show. But Kerala pacer M.D.