Duleep Trophy 2022: Kumar Kartikeya claims 5 as Central Zone reduce West Zone to 252 for 9 in 1st semi-final

Left-arm spinner Kumar Kartikeya claimed five for 66 as Central Zone restricted West Zone to 252 for nine on Day 1 of the first semi-final of the Duleep Trophy 2022 in Coimbatore on Thursday, September 15.

Central Zone dominated proceedings after winning the toss and opting to bowl first. West Zone got off to a poor start as in-form opener Yashasvi Jaiswal was dismissed for a duck by Aniket Choudhary. In another massive setback for West Zone, their skipper Ajinkya Rahane was trapped lbw for eight by Gaurav Yadav.

Prithvi Shaw counter-attacked for West Zone and reached a brisk half-century. Yet again, though, he could not convert a promising knock into a big score. He was out for 60 off 78, clean bowled by Kartikeya. The left-arm spinner also got the scalp of Armaan Jaffer (23) before trapping Het Patel lbw for two. Following Patel’s dismissal, West Zone had lost half their side for 148.

The slide continued as Atit Sheth (three) also perished to the left-arm spinner. It did not help the batting side’s cause that Rahul Tripathi retired hurt on 47. Shams Mulani (41) and Tanush Kotian (36) brought some stability to the innings, pushing the team’s total towards 230. Kotian’s innings ended when he was bowled by Kartikeya, while Mulani was sent back by Ankit Rajpoot.

Kartikeya completed a well-deserved five-fer when he cleaned up Jaydev Unadkat for one. At stumps on Day 1 of the first semi-final of the Duleep Trophy 2022, Tripathi, who had returned to the crease, was batting on 64 and Chintan Gaja on five.

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Kunnummal, Vihari hit tons as South Zone post 324 for 2 in 2nd semi-final of Duleep Trophy 2022

Opener Rohan Kunnummal and skipper Hanuma Vihari scored hundreds as South Zone reached an impressive 324 for two at stumps on Day 1 of the second semi-final of the Duleep Trophy 2022 against North Zone in Salem.

South Zone won the toss and opted to bat after which Kunnummal and Mayank Agarwal added 102 for the opening wicket. Agarwal was looking good for a brisk fifty, but was dismissed for 49 off 59, bowled by Nishant Sindhu.

Kunnummal and Vihari then blunted the North Zone attack, featuring in a 167-run stand for the second wicket. The former hit 143 off 225 balls with the aid of 16 fours and two sixes. The South Zone skipper, on the other hand, returned unbeaten on 107 off 220 balls. He hit seven fours and one maximum.

The second-wicket stand was broken when Navdeep Saini cleaned up Kunnummal. Vihari and Baba Indrajith (20* off 37) then took South Zone to stumps without any further damage as they dominated Day 1 of the second Duleep Trophy 2022 semi-final.