Duleep Trophy: Tilak Varma’s unbeaten ton puts South Zone in command

Captain Tilak Varma hit an unbeaten 106 while Shreyas Gopal scored 88 as South Zone recovered from 80/5 to reach 285/9 against North Zone. South now lead by 90 runs after Vidhwath Kaverappa’s four-wicket haul bowled North out

Bengaluru: South Zone captain Tilak Varma smashed an unbeaten century, while Shreyas Gopal made a strong 88, as the team ended Day 2 of their Duleep Trophy semifinal against North Zone in the ascendancy at the BCCI Centre of Excellence Ground 2 here.

Tilak, India’s T20I vice-captain, went to stumps unbeaten on 106 off 225 balls, producing a composed innings and sharing an innings-saving 175-run partnership with Gopal, which helped South close the day at 285/9, a 90-run lead after North were bowled out for 195.

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Tilak came to the crease with South in a precarious position at 39/2 after they lost Ricky Bhui (5) and Shaik Rasheed (0). He anchored the innings, but Narayan Jagadeesan and Smaran Ravichandran were also dismissed as Gurnoor Brar ran through the South batting order in the first session.

South were reeling at 80/5 before Tilak and Gopal offered strong resistance. The two put on 175 runs for the sixth wicket, frustrating the North bowlers, tiring them out and taking South into the lead.

Gopal, however, missed out on a century when he was dismissed by Arshdeep Singh for 88 in an innings packed with 11 fours. This triggered a collapse as Anshul Kamboj and Arshdeep each picked up a wicket, while MD Nidheesh was run out at the fag end of the day, with Tilak holding the fort.

Tilak smashed his eighth first-class century and will look to add to South’s lead as he remains at the crease with Kavuri Saiteja. South ended the day at 285/9, with a lead of 90 runs.

Earlier, South had bowled North out for 195, with pacer Vidhwath Kaverappa starring with a four-wicket haul. Nidheesh and Tanay Thyagarajan also took two wickets each, while Saiteja and Gopal claimed a wicket apiece.

Brief scores: South Zone 285/9 in 94 overs (Tilak Varma 106*, Shreyas Gopal 88; Gurnoor Brar 4-70, Anshul Kamboj 2-53) lead North Zone 195 in 59.1 overs (Qamran Iqbal 76, Kanhaiya Wadhawan 35; Vidhwath Kaverappa 4-66, Tanay Thyagarajan 2-31) by 90 runs.