Tilak leads the charge as South Zone book final spot

Skipper Tilak Varma backed up his first-innings ton with an unbeaten 51 to guide South Zone to the final of the Duleep Trophy 2026. At the BCCI Centre of Excellence Ground 2 in Bengaluru on Wednesday, MD Nidheesh scored a five-wicket haul to bowl North Zone out early on Day 4, and Tilak's patient knock guided South Zone home by seven wickets.

North Zone added 41 runs to their overnight score of 256/7, having begun the day with their lead standing at 139. Anshul Kamboj and Nishant Sindhu extended their partnership to 60 runs, before Kamboj was bowled by MD Nidheesh for 36. Gurnoor Brar and Arshdeep Singh struck a six each, but Nidheesh cleaned them up to finish with a five-fer as North Zone folded soon enough for 297, leaving Sindhu stranded on 35.

South Zone were set a target of 181 and began steadily on the back of a 64-run partnership between Ricky Bhui and Narayan Jagadeesan. Bhui was the aggressor between the two, striking seven fours in his 53-ball 42 before falling to Gurnoor Brar. Abid Mushtaq bowled Shaik Rasheed for 1, and South Zone reached 72/2 by lunch thanks to Jagadeesan and Tilak. The duo steadied things in the second session and took South Zone past the 100-mark, before Jagadeesan handed Mushtaq his second wicket, stumped for 43.

R Smaran and Tilak worked together to close the door permanently with an unbeaten stand of 79, leaving the door slightly open. Tilak swiftly picked up a couple of boundaries off Kamboj and another off Mushtaq as Kanhaiya Wadhawan turned to spin from both ends. Smaran pounced on Ayush Badoni’s offspin for a couple of boundaries of his own as the game slipped away from North Zone. They quickly accepted their fate and bowled the part-time spin of Ayush Doseja and Qamran Iqbal while Tilak scored a boundary and his fifty to win the game.

South Zone prevailed after being reduced to 80/5 in pursuit of North Zone's 195 runs by Tilak's unbeaten 116 in the first innings. Tilak forged a partnership of 175 with Shreyas Gopal, who scored 87, to secure a healthy first-innings lead of 117 for South Zone. Despite fifties from Sanat Sangwan and Doseja that put the game in the balance, North Zone slipped up again with the bat on Day 3 and failed to recover from it. After East Zone defeated Central Zone by four wickets in their semifinal on Tuesday, South Zone will now face East Zone in the summit match on September 6 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.