Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], September 7 : Wicketkeeper-batter Narayan Jagadeesan's prowess with the bat powered South Zone to the finals of the Duleep Trophy following a draw against North Zone in their semifinal match at Bengaluru on Sunday.
South Zone made it to the title clash on the basis of their first innings lead and will be meeting Central Zone in the title clash at Bengaluru on September 11.
North Zone elected to field first on winning the toss. Jagadeesan's 352-ball 197, with 16 fours and two sixes led the spotlight, while half-centuries came from Devdutt Padikkal (57 in 71 balls, with seven fours), Ricky Bhui (54 in 131 balls, with three fours and two sixes) and Tanay Thyagarajan (58 in 116 balls, with four boundaries) as South Zone posted 536 runs in 169.2 overs.
Nishant Sindhu's five-wicket haul, conceding 125 runs in 47.2 overs, was a standout for North Zone.
Despite a 252-ball ton from Shubham Khajuria (128 with 20 fours and a six) and a brilliant 82 from Nishant (in 148 balls, with eight fours and a six), North Zone could score only 361 runs in reply during 100.1 overs, falling 175 runs behind.
Spinner Gurjapneet Singh (4/96) and MD Nidheesh (3/64) were the top bowlers for South Zone.
South Zone got another chance at batting, with Jagadeesan (52* in 69 balls, with six fours) and Padikkal (16*) standing unbeaten as both teams settled for a draw, with South Zone ending things at 95/1.
Jagadeesan's brilliant batting performances earned him the 'Player of the Match' title.
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