Saransh Jain of Central Zone took 5-49 to help bundle out South Zone cheaply on day one of the Duleep Trophy final on Thursday (September 11).
Saransh Jain continues stellar first-class form
Central Zone won the toss and elected to field first in the Duleep Trophy final at the BCCI Centre of Excellence Ground 1. South Zone opener Mohit Kale was the first to fall at the score of 27, bowled by Kumar Kartikeya Singh. Less than six overs later, he dismissed No.3 Ravichandran Smaran at the score of 35.
Opener Tanmay Agarwal was then run out, and Kartikeya got rid of South Zone captain Mohammed Azharuddin to reduce them to 57-4. Soon after, Jain got into the thick of things. The off-spinner's first victim was Ricky Bhui, trapped lbw for 15. He then had Andre Siddarth stumped for 12, and Salman Nizar caught at gully for 24.
Kartikeya returned to take the wicket of Gurjapneet Singh, before Jain cleaned up the tail to bowl South out for 149 and finish with figures of 5-49. In response, Central Zone have got off to a solid start, reaching 50-0 by the 19th over.
Duleep Trophy 2025 final, day 1 live updates: Kumar Kartikeya, Saransh Jain bowl South out for 149
Final, South Zone vs Central Zone
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This follows his semi-final five-wicket haul against West Zone, where he took 3-121 in the first innings and 5-84 in the second, which included the wickets of Shreyas Iyer and Shardul Thakur. In fact, Jain's last first-class match before the 2025 Duleep Trophy semi-final also saw him pick up a five-for - 5-138 off 48 overs against Uttar Pradesh in the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy.
Thirty-two years of age, Jain made his first-class debut in 2014 for Madhya Pradesh and is playing his 44th match. Till the end of the first innings, he has 144 wickets at an average of 27.7 to his name. Jain also averages 27.10 with the bat. He is yet to be selected for the national side in any format, but has played for India A and the Rest of India sides.
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