Duleep Trophy semifinal: South Zone’s Kaverappa restricts North Zone with five-wicket haul

Pacers ran riot on the opening day of the Duleep Trophy semifinal between South Zone and North Zone. Helped by overcast skies, fast bowlers accounted for 12 of the 14 wickets that fell. The M. Chinnaswamy Stadium pitch offered some movement and bounce, capitalised by South’s Vidwath Kaverappa. South bundled North out for 198.

Pacers ran riot on the opening day of the Duleep Trophy semifinal between South Zone and North Zone here on Wednesday.

Helped by overcast skies, fast bowlers accounted for 12 of the 14 wickets that fell. The M. Chinnaswamy Stadium pitch offered some movement and bounce, capitalised by South’s Vidwath Kaverappa (5/28). The Karnataka cricketer took his third First Class five-for, as South bundled North out for 198.

North relished bowling in the final session, cutting through the top-order in quick time. Baltej Singh and Harshit Rana took two wickets each to reduce South to 63 for four.

Kaverappa was brilliant with the new ball, keeping the batters guessing by keeping a tight off-stump line. He landed the out-swingers perfectly, forcing Dhruv Shorey and Ankit Kalsi to fish and edge.

Andhra seamer K.V. Sasikanth failed to maintain a good length, but managed to scalp Prabhsimran Singh (49, 52b, 6x4, 1x4). Prabhsimran scooped a loose drive to cover, where Sai Sudharsan grabbed a sharp catch.

Kaverappa returned to the attack to clean up Jayant Yadav, Pulkit Narang and Baltej Singh. The 24-year-old follows a simple plan to get the results. “On any pitch, if you hit the top of off-stump line, every batsman in the world will find it difficult,” he said.

South’s reply started in disastrous fashion. Sudharsan, the best young talent in the team, checked his shot to offer a catch to Jayant at mid-on. The dependable R. Samarth stuck his bat well away from the body to give Baltej his second wicket.