Day 1 of the Duleep Trophy final belonged entirely to Central Zone’s spinners as Saransh Jain and Kumar Kartikeya dismantled South Zone’s batting with a clinical display of control and persistence in Bengaluru on Thursday.
The spin duo shared nine wickets between them to bowl South out for just 149, before Central’s openers made further inroads into the deficit.
Saransh returned figures of 5 for 49, his second successive five-wicket haul in the competition, while Kartikeya bagged 4 for 53 in a spell that broke South’s early resistance and triggered a collapse. South, who looked steady in the first hour through Tanmay Agarwal and Mohit Kale, were undone in the 16th over when Kartikeya bowled Kale with a deceptive delivery. From there, the innings unravelled.
The key moment of the morning came with the dismissal of Tanmay Agarwal, who had looked solid for his 31 but was run out following a mid-pitch collision with partner Ricky Bhui. That mishap only deepened South’s troubles as wickets continued to tumble. Kartikeya produced the ball of the day to remove skipper Mohammed Azharuddeen, while Andre Siddarth’s ill-judged charge down the track summed up South’s indecisiveness.
Salman Nizar’s 24 offered some late resistance, but Jain’s accuracy ensured the lower order folded quickly. His fifth wicket – and ninth overall in two games – capped a relentless spell of 24 overs.
By contrast, Central’s reply was assured. Openers Danish Malewar (28*) and Akshay Wadkar (20*) blunted the new ball and stitched together a 50-run unbroken stand by stumps. Their composure stood in sharp contrast to South’s tentativeness, leaving Central trailing by just 99 runs with all ten wickets intact.
With spin already dictating terms, South Zone face an uphill battle to claw back into the contest, while Central Zone will look to press home their advantage and bat South out of the game on Day 2.