The 2025 Duleep Trophy final began on Thursday (September 11). Here's the round-up of the action from day two.
Resuming at their overnight first innings score of 50, Central lost their first wicket with just five runs added to the board as Akshay Wadkar (22) was bowled by Vasuki Koushik. Shubham Sharma, who came into this match after scores of 122 and 96, fell cheaply this time, bowled by Gurjapneet Singh for six.
Rajat Patidar, Yash Rathod put Central Zone in driver's seat with centuries
21-year-old opener Danish Malewar, who scored a double-century two weeks ago, brought up his second fifty in three innings since then. However, soon after reaching the landmark, Gurjapneet struck again, ending Danish's 120-ball stay for 53. He hit five boundaries in his patient knock. All of a sudden, South found a sniff of an opportunity to restrict Central – who were then at 93-3 – from building a sizeable lead over their own first-innings total of 149.
But Central captain Rajat Patidar had other plans. Coming in at No.4, he struck a 115-ball 101, studded with 12 fours and two sixes, to continue his purple patch this season. Having reached his first fifty off 73 balls, he accelerated to reach his second in another 39. Together with Yash Rathod, he stitched a 167-run stand off 205 balls. He could add only another run after reaching three figures as Gurjapneet again struck to end his 115-ball stay.
Leading from the front 💪
— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) September 12, 2025
Central Zone captain Rajat Patidar set the stage on fire in Bengaluru with a stroke-filled 101(115) 💥
Watch snippets of his knock 📽️
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/unz0hJ5yJ6#DuleepTrophy | #Final | @IDFCFIRSTBank pic.twitter.com/1n4eW6NI57
Central then lost Upendra Yadav cheaply for five. Rathod, however, made sure his team did not squander the advantage built by his earlier stand with Patidar, reaching his century off 132 deliveries. Having top-scored in last year’s Ranji Trophy – with 960 runs at an average of 53.44, including five hundreds and three fifties in Vidarbha's title-winning campaign – this was his first sizeable contribution of the new domestic season.
He finished the day unbeaten on 137 off 188 balls, having hit 11 fours and a six. Meanwhile, Saransh Jain, who picked up 5-49 in the first innings, will have a chance to score a fifty when he resumes on 47 off 119 tomorrow. Central are 384-5, leading by 235 runs. Gurjapneet was the pick of the bowlers for South, picking up 3-74 off his 16 overs.
Final, South Zone vs Central Zone
vs
- Ball by ball Over
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