South Zone stutter after Kaverappa’s four-for in Duleep Trophy semifinal against North Zone

BENGALURU: Karnataka pacer Vidwath Kaverappa’s four-for helped South Zone dismiss North Zone for 195 to take an upper hand on the opening day of their Duleep Trophy semifinal here on Sunday.

Kaverappa led a team bowling effort from the South Zone with 4/66 while his Kerala counterpart MD Nidheesh claimed 2/36, and spinner Tanay Thyagarajan returned 2/31.

Kavuri Saiteja (1/24) and Shreyas Gopal (1/24) were also among the wickets.

But in reply, South Zone stuttered to reach 40 for 2 at the end of the day's play.

Anshul Kamboj (1/9) cleaned up the experienced Ricky Bhui (5) while Gurnoor Brar (1/12) pinned Shaik Rasheed (0) in front of the wickets to give some respite to North Zone, who were ahead by 155 runs in the first innings when the stumps were drawn.

Narayan Jagadeesan, batting on 34 off 58 balls with six fours, was joined by South Zone skipper Tilak Varma (0) shortly before the end of play here.

In all, seamers had a field day at the BCCI Centre of Excellence Ground 2 as they claimed eight of the overall 12 wickets to fall on the first day.

To his credit, Jammu and Kashmir opener Qamran Iqbal made a patient 76 (182 balls, 10 fours, 1 six) even as wickets tumbled at the other end on a regular basis.

Coming back into the playing eleven, Sanat Sangwan (10) was the first to perish when he gave a return catch to Nidheesh. Saiteja accounted for Ayush Doseja (23) while Thyagarajan had Ayush Badoni (2) stumped, and then cleaned up the North Zone skipper Kanhaiya Wadhawan (35).

But Iqbal fought hard from the other end, keeping his defence tight and using the feet well to get his runs.

His innings ended late in the North Zone innings, when Kaverappa had him caught behind off a short ball. Kaverappa was late in the wickets column but did well to wipe out the North’s tail.

Bhui and Jagadeesan were successful in keeping the North Zone pace attackat bay for nearly an hour even as the new ball seamed off the pitch dangerously.

It was Kamboj who got one to nip back in to beat Bhui’s defence and crash into the stumps in the 15th over, while Brar got one to straighten off the deck to crash into Rasheed’s pads in front of the stumps.

Brief Scores:

North Zone: 195 in 59.1 overs (Qamran Iqbal 76, Kanhaiya Wadhawan 35; Vidwath Kaverappa 4/66, MD Nidheesh 2/36, Tanay Thyagarajan 2/31) lead South Zone 40/2 in 18 overs (Narayan Jagadeesan 34 not out; Anshul Kamboj 1/9, Gurnoor Brar 1/12) by 155 runs.