The West Zone bowlers were at their best on Day 1 of the Duleep Trophy final against South Zone in Bengaluru as they kept their opponents to just 182 for the loss of seven wickets on Thursday, Day 1. Winning the toss and choosing to bowl first, West Zone were in complete control on a largely overcast day that was eventually called off a few minutes into the extended session due to poor light.
South Zone skipper Hanuma Vihari was the lone warrior with his 63 off 130 balls but it was not enough. West Zone pacers Arzan Nagwaswalla, Chintan Gaja and Atit Sheth kept a tight leash on the South batters. They moved the ball quite well to keep Mayank Agarwal and R Samarth, the South openers, cautious.
The first wicket did not take long to come, as a result of the opener's callousness. Samarth opted to cut Gaja’s short and wide delivery outside the off-stump and Harvik Desai, who replaced Het Patel, completed a simple catch behind the stumps.
Soon after, Mayank and Tilak Varma started to move things ahead for the South. Mayank, who began the match at 6976 runs, also completed 7000 runs in First-Class cricket off 159 innings. However, Mayank was not able to convert his strong start. The Karnataka right-hander’s expansive drive off Sheth had fatal consequences, ending in a catch to Sarfaraz Khan at third slip.
At 42 for 2, South Zone batters Tilak and Hanuma Vihari managed 79 runs for the third wicket as South inched towards a safer zone. Vihari was particularly impressive, neutralising the pacers in a manual-perfect way. The Hyderabad right-hander played the quicks closer to his body, muffling the bounce and movement. It helped him resist the West bowlers for over three hours on the day.
Unfortunately, Vihari's batting came to an end when he tried a late cut against left-arm spinner Shams Mulani. The ball snaked onto the stumps after taking the edge of his bat. Tilak perished to Nagwaswalla as the West Zone ate into the meat of South batting order quickly in the post-lunch session.
West snaffled four wickets in this period for 66 runs to leave their opponents in a spot of bother.
