South Zone’s Ankit Sharma and Andre Siddarth produced a masterclass in defensive batting but Central Zone are poised to land their first Duleep Trophy title in 11 years, ending the fourth day here on Sunday needing just 65 runs to seal the moment of glory.
Overnight 129 for two, South braved a brittle first session but were eventually bundled out for 426 in their second innings as spinners Kumar Kartikeya and Saransh Jain shared seven wickets between them.
South leads by a mere 64 runs, and Central should be able to surmount the target without much fuss on the fifth day on Monday.
Ankit (99, 168 balls) and Siddarth (84 not out, 190 balls) shared an impressive 192-run alliance for the seventh wicket that saved South from a precarious 222 for six — then 141 runs adrift of 363, the mark they needed to go past to avoid an innings defeat.
Ankit’s innings was emblematic of blunting the bowlers with a broad bat and an unflappable mind.
Central pacers — Deepak Chahar and Kuldeep Sen — tested his awareness of off-stump and the reflexes with a slew of snorters, but the left-hander was up to the task each time.
There were a couple of occasions when spinners — Kartikeya (4/110) and Jain (3/130) — beat them with slow but appreciable turn, but the 34-year-old moved on quickly from those thorny moments to continue his work.
Story continues below this ad
But then he had a wonderful partner in Siddarth at the other end, showing situational awareness far beyond his tender 19 years.
It would not be an exaggeration to trace the traits of his uncle Sridharan Sharath, former Tamil Nadu batter and the current national selector, who was a crisis man for his state in the 90s, in the young Siddarth.
Generally focussed on keeping his end going, the right-hander also showcased streaks of elegance when he decided to flick or drive the bowlers.
The despair in Central bowlers also grew manifold as the pair went on adding runs diligently, without losing a wicket in the second session — 86/0.
Story continues below this ad
But all that good work was undone when Ankit, when he was on 99, uncharacteristically tried to clobber Kartikeya to give Rajat Patidar a simple catch.
Once Ankit was dismissed, Central managed to pluck the remaining three South wickets with ease.
But before they found the fight inside of them, South lost four wickets in the first session despite adding 120 runs, placing themselves perilously close to an innings defeat.
Ricky Bhui (45) was the first to depart, edging Chahar to Shubham Sharma in the cordon, and Ravichandran Smaran, the other overnight batter, followed the suit soon after.
Story continues below this ad
Smaran moved on from 37 and completed his fifty (67) but the Karnataka left-hander could not kick on as a rather aimless sweep off Kartikeya ended with Yash Rathod in the deep.
South skipper Mohammed Azharuddeen (27) lived a charmed life, enjoying reprieves on 19 and 27 off Kartikeya, eventually perished to the left-arm spinner playing an ugly pull to Kuldeep Sen to mid-on.
Salman Nizar (12) fell to Kartikeya before Ankit and Siddarth shored up South with a resolute stand until the fag end of the day when flurry of late wickets hampered them.
