Duleep Trophy 2025, Final, SZ vs CZ: Rathod fails to double but deal almost done for Central

Central Zone continued their dominant run on Day 3 of the Duleep Trophy 2025 final but South Zone showed resilience late in the day to stay in the contest at the BCCI Centre of Excellence Ground, Bengaluru.

Resuming from their strong position on Day 2, Central Zone batters Yash Rathod and Saransh Jain carried forward the momentum with a composed stand. Saransh, who looked assured at the crease, brought up a well-made half-century before falling to spinner Ankit Sharma for 69 runs off 193 balls. The duo added a marathon 176 runs for the sixth wicket, which gave Central a firm control of the match.

After Saransh’s dismissal, pacer Deepak Chahar joined Rathod and the pair kept the scoreboard ticking with a handy 58-run partnership for the seventh wicket. Rathod was the star of the innings, playing with remarkable patience. He crossed the 150-run mark and looked set for a double century before falling agonizingly short, departing for 194 off 286 balls, included with 17 boundaries and two sixes.

His dismissal to pacer Gurjapneet Singh triggered a lower-order collapse, as South Zone bowlers cleaned up the tail without much resistance. Central Zone eventually posted a commanding 511 all out. For the hosts, Gurjapneet (4/124) and Ankit (4/180) were the standout bowlers, keeping their side in the hunt with crucial breakthroughs.

South's openers Tanmay Agarwal and Mohit Kale started positively with a 62-run stand in their second innings. However, their resistance was broken when Kale departed for 38, trapped at the pads by Saransh. Soon after, Tanmay followed for 26 as pacer Kuldeep Sen struck to hand his side the second breakthrough on the third day of the clash.

At stumps, South Zone reached 128/2, still trailing by 233 runs. Smaran Ravichandran (37*) and Ricky Bhui (26*) were at the crease, having stitched together a steady 50-plus partnership before bad light brought an early end to the day’s play. With two days left, South Zone’s immediate task will be to erase the deficit and then build a lead, while Central Zone will aim to press for wickets and tighten their grip on the final.