Duleep Trophy 2022 Final, Day 4 Review: West Zone on the verge of being crowned as champions

West Zone continues to dominate the proceedings in the final match of the 2022 Duleep Trophy against South Zone in Coimbatore on Saturday, September 24. Resuming their second innings on 376/3, batter Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sarfaraz Khan piled on the misery on South Zone bowlers. 

Jaiswal who had completed his double-century on Day 3, played with more freedom as the left-handed batter looked to dominate the opposition bowlers. His partner Sarfaraz also batted exceptionally well as he stroked a century. 

Despite Jaiswal getting out, Sarfaraz did not stop his assault as he smoked 11 fours and two maximums in his unbeaten innings of 127 runs in 178 balls. Het Patel who missed out on his century in the first innings, also played well for his 51* runs. The West Zone finally decided to declare their innings after scoring 585 runs and giving a mammoth target of 529 runs to win. 

South Zone batters had no answers for the opposition bowling line-up

South Zone's top-order meekly surrendered against the West Zone bowlers with senior batters like Mayank Agarwal, Baba Indrajith, skipper Hanuma Vihari, and Manish Pandey getting out cheaply. Opening batter Rohan Kunnummal was the only South Zone batter who looked comfortable at the crease. 

The right-handed batter stroked 93 runs taking just 100 deliveries and smashed 14 fours and one maximum. However, he was scalped by Shams Mulani before reaching the three-figure mark. 

The wicketkeeper-batter Ricky Bhui also tried to stay on the crease, but he was scalped by Mulani after making 13 runs. Batters Ravi Teja and Sai Kishore will resume the batting for the South Zone who have ended the day at 154/6. On the contrary, the West Zone will be looking to wrap up things as quickly as they can on Day 5. 

As mentioned above, Mulani has scalped two wickets for his side. Atit Seth and Jaydev Unadkat have also snaffled two wickets each and they will be looking to grab the remaining wickets as soon as possible on Day 5.