South Zone into semis after first-innings win

A century from Ankit Bawne and his 93-run seventh-wicket stand with Rakesh Dhurv helped West Zone draw their Duleep Trophy quarter-final match against South Zone in Chennai. South Zone, however, were awarded the match on the basis of a first-innings lead and will now meet Central Zone in the second semi-final in Chennai, starting October 10.

Having been batted out of the game over the first two days, and struggling at an overnight score of 155 for 6, West Zone looked in imminent danger of collapsing for a small total, thus giving South Zone the possibility of an outright win. However, Bawne and Dhurv dug in and added 98 runs in nearly 40.3 overs. Bawne brought up his seventh first-class hundred and Dhurv scored his 13th first-class fifty, before he was caught by Rohan Prem off left-arm spinner Aushik Srinivas.

His dismissal led to a flurry of wickets, as West Zone lost the remaining batsmen for just 41 runs. Offspinner Malolan Rangarajan completed his maiden five-wicket haul in first-class cricket, as West Zone were out for 287, in response to South Zone's mammoth first-innings total of 600. Bawne remained unbeaten on 115 off 337 balls and his innings included seven fours and a six. Dhurv's fifty, meanwhile, came off 107 balls and included six fours and a six.

With a 313-run lead and first-innings points in the bag, South Zone decided to bat again. They declared after being 44 for 1 before the match was drawn.

As a result of the first-innings win, South Zone will square off against Central Zone in the second semi-final on October 10.