Duleep Trophy: Tilak Varma helps South seal final berth

BENGALURU: It was a fitting finish to a match in which Tilak Varma was at the crease every day. The South Zone captain walked out on all four days of the Duleep Trophy semifinal against North Zone and walked back on Wednesday having hit the winning four, sealing a seven-wicket victory and a place in the final against East Zone.Tilak, who had earlier rescued South with a gritty unbeaten century in the first innings, produced another composed half-century on the final day to complete a memorable all-round captaincy effort.Chasing 181, South got off to a steady start as openers Ricky Bhui (42) and N Jagadeesan (43) put on 64. Bhui entertained with a series of fluent strokes before a ramp shot off Gurnoor Brar, caught by Anshul Kamboj at third man, brought his innings to an end.Shaik Rasheed fell in the next over, but there was no further alarm for the South as Tilak stood firm.The left-hander looked assured, playing close to his body against Brar and showing fluency against both pace and spin. His drives were crisp, while the occasional reverse and paddle sweep showed he was willing to improvise without appearing out of control.At the other end, R Smaran (32 n.o) settled in comfortably. He rotated the strike, found the boundary four times and cleared it once before Tilak provided the finishing touch.Earlier, Kerala pacer MD Nidheesh (5/56) wrapped up North Zone’s second innings in the morning, bowling them out for 297 and completing his 10th five-wicket haul in first-class cricket.Nidheesh was relentless with his line and length and disturbed the stumps of Anshul Kamboj, Brar and Arshdeep Singh to finish with five wickets. North added 41 runs to their overnight total.Tilak later said after the match that Karun Nair’s omission from the playing XI was dictated by match-ups rather than form. Karun had scored 699 runs in the last Ranji Trophy season.Get the latest Sports News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.