'A great win despite North Zone’s time-wasting tactics' - Former India cricketer Dodda Ganesh questions time wasting tactics in Duleep Trophy semifinal

The second semifinal of the ongoing Duleep Trophy 2023 witnessed the clash between South Zone and North Zone at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Notably, South Zone clinched the win and will face West Zone in the summit clash which will begin on Wednesday, July 12th, in Bengaluru.

The semifinal match between South and North had some dramatic moments, sparking a debate as a time-wasting scenario played out on the final day.

Well done guys. A great win finally despite North Zone’s time-wasting tactics. Hopefully going forward the men at the helm take measures to curb the unsportsmaship behaviour #DuleepTrophy

— Dodda Ganesh | ದೊಡ್ಡ ಗಣೇಶ್ (@doddaganesha) July 8, 2023

The second semifinal of the ongoing Duleep Trophy 2023 witnessed the clash between South Zone and North Zone at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Notably, South Zone clinched the win and will face West Zone in the summit clash which will begin on Wednesday, July 12th, in Bengaluru.

In the same vein, former India cricketer, Dodda Ganesh, has now taken to Twitter to challenge the North Zone's time-wasting tactics during the match. The 50-year-old remarked that he hopes the players who were involved in the aforementioned occurrence will take efforts to change their unsportsmanlike approach in the future.

"Well done guys. A great win finally despite North Zone’s time-wasting tactics. Hopefully going forward the men at the helm take measures to curb the unsportsmaship behaviour #DuleepTrophy," Ganesh tweeted.

The semifinal match between South and North had some dramatic moments, sparking a debate as a time-wasting scenario played out on the final day. In the final session, the North Zone took over an hour to bowl 5.5 overs, confusing the South Zone batters. Notably, the South Zone won, and the way the North Zone delayed the match generated disputes as it breached the 'spirit of cricket.'

South Zone beat North Zone to advance to Duleep Trophy Final

Notably, the semifinal match was delayed roughly by 100 minutes on the fourth day due to rain on Day 4. North Zone positioned the majority of their fielders on the boundary rope as the game began and changed fields with almost every ball bowled in the final session. However, although South only needed 5.5 overs to reach the requisite 32 runs, they scored those runs in 53 minutes as North Zone delayed while bowling. Furthermore, three of the 5.5 overs took almost 10 minutes to complete, while the rest of the overs took 12 and 7 minutes. 

South Zone relied heavily on opener Mayank Agarwal, who hit crucial half-centuries in both innings. Agarwal led the charge for his team in the final innings, slamming 54 off 57 as South Zone comfortably chased a 215-run target. Meanwhile, South skipper Hanuma Vihari also played a crucial innings as the team prevailed by two wickets to advance to the Duleep Trophy final.