Duleep Trophy live score, semifinal Day 1: Saini gets Kunnummal for 143 as South Zone 269/2 vs North; West Zone brings up 200 vs Central

Hello and welcome to Sportstar’s live updates from the Duleep Trophy semifinals in Salem and Coimbatore. Stay tuned for latest news and inputs from our reporters on ground – Dhruva Prasad and Lalith Kalidas.

Dhruva Prasad from Coimbatore: West Zone 202/6 in 64 overs: Kotian slams a pull before cutting one to point for back-to-back boundaries. Mulani and Kotian take their alliance to 50. Kartikeya has been taken out of the attack.

Lalith Kalidas from Salem: South Zone 269/2 in 75 overs: End of a superb innings as Rohan Kunnummal walks back on 143 off 225 balls. Attempts to cut a ball from Navdeep Saini that was a touch too close to his body and drags it back to the stumps. In walks Baba Indrajith at 4 for South Zone.

Dhruva Prasad from Coimbatore: West Zone 191/6 in 59 overs: West Zone starts off on a positive note after Tea with seven runs coming from the first over. Tanush Kotian flicks one to the fine-leg fence. Gaurav Yadav the bowler.

Lalith Kalidas from Salem: South Zone 258/1 in 70 overs: Back for the final session of the day. Vihari and Kunnummal return to the crease and Navdeep Saini’s up for another spell.

Lalith Kalidas from Salem: South Zone 258/1 in 70 overs, TEA, Day 1: Complete domination by Kunnummal (136*) and Vihari (68*) as they take another session away from the North Zone. Turned out to be just a flat surface. With the batters to come, things look ominous for North

Dhruva Prasad from Coimbatore: West Zone 184/6 in 58 overs at Tea, Day 1. Gaurav Yadav replaces Karan Sharma, ending spin from both ends. Mulani (16*) greets the pacer with a pull to midwicket for four. Meanwhile, Kotian (17*) keeps finding boundaries against spin with his nimble footwork.

Dhruva Prasad from Coimbatore: Karan Sharma and Kumar Kartikeya have been bowling in tandem for 12 over now. That phase has yielded three wickets for 26 runs.

Dhruva Prasad from Coimbatore: Kartikeya traps Het Patel in front to leave West Zone at 148/5. Earlier, Rahul Tripathi retired hurt on 47. In comes Shams Mulani. It does not take Kartikeya too long to grab his third as Atit Sheth takes a walk back to the pavilion. West Zone 147/6, in trouble.

Lalith Kalidas from Salem: A HUNDRED on Duleep Trophy debut for Rohan Kunnummal, off 172 balls – his FOURTH First Class hundred in six innings since debut. He reaches the mark with a huge six down the ground. Has maintained his tempo throughout this knock – 13 boundaries (11 4s, 2 6s). Shortly after, fifty comes up for Hanuma Vihari off 108 balls (2 4s, 1 6). The skipper has had a calming influence on the innings, holding one end firm and allowing Kunnummal to take on the spinners. The pair has also notched up its 100-run partnership.  South Zone 211/1 in 58 overs.

Dhruva Prasad from Coimbatore: Armaan Jaffer goes for 23. Pulls Karan Sharma straight to backward square leg fielder. Het Patel joins Tripathi. West Zone 144/4 in 43 overs.

Dhruva Prasad from Coimbatore: Aarman Jaffer showing his range against Aniket Choudhary. First stands still and cuts in front of square for a boundary before a backfoot punch through midwicket for four more in the same over.  West Zone 134/3 in 40 overs

Central Zone have kept chipping away at the West Zone line-up.
| Photo Credit: Dhruva Prasad

Lalith Kalidas from Salem: Kaul finally switches from a fuller length and sends in four successive bouncers to Kunnummal, who ducks under them half-heartedly. Kaul immediately comes around the wicket but misses his line and the batter cuts it down to third man for his first boundary post Lunch. Kunnummal was dropped by Pulkit Narang off Nishant Sindhu on 77 in the 43rd over.  South Zone 171/1 in 45 overs.

Dhruva Prasad from Coimbatore: Both batters are cautious after Lunch. Tripathi is playing off the backfoot against spin instead of pressing forward. He has collected two boundaries, both off outside edges against Rajpoot. Jaffer has been defending solidly.. West Zone 120/3 in 36 overs.

Dhruva Prasad from Coimbatore: Rajpoot resumes proceedings with the ball after Lunch. Tripathi will be key in this session, having already got his eye in.

Lalith Kalidas from Salem: South Zone 145/1 in 37 overs Kunnummal (71*) and Vihari (23*) resume batting in the second session. Kaul to start the attack for North. Kunnummal has another set of throwdowns before taking the field.

LUNCH BREAK

Lalith Kalidas from Salem: South Zone 145/1 in 37 overs South Zone have begun in commanding fashion with opener Rohan Kunnummal leading the way with a fluent half-century (71*). He finished the session with another boundary past long-on. Predictions of an average scoring wicket have gone for a toss with batters making merry. The North Zone bowlers lacked teeth in the first session, prompting skipper Mandeep Singh to employ all five bowlers inside the first 20 overs.

Hanuma Vihari and Rohan Kunnummal walk back at Lunch on Day 1.
| Photo Credit: Lalith Kalidas

The outfield has been blazing quick, offering full reward to even the slightest of pushes. Two slashes from Kunnummal over the slip-cordon off Navdeep Saini’s attempted bouncers were the shots of the day. Mayank Agarwal played his part with a quick 49 (59). He was nearly caught off the first ball he faced but made amends on the back of boundaries through cover and behind point.

Skipper Vihari (23*) has also had his eye in before the break, leaving North wanting a quick reset when play resumes.

Dhruva Prasad from Coimbatore: Lunch on Day 1. West Zone 104/3 in 31 overs. It has been a morning of learning the hard way for West Zone. Rahane left a few balls in the channel before shouldering arms to one nipping in that trapped him in front. Similarly, Shaw was a victim of his aggression against spin. He miscued a sweep before missing a pull in the same over and losing his off stump to Kartikeya. Tripathi on the other hand has attacked spin and been cautious against seam. Hitting the deck hard has been key on this bouncy wicket and that is exactly what the pacers have done thus far.

Dhruva Prasad from Coimbatore: Shaw is out for 60. Goes for the sweep against Kartikeya and finds his off stump uprooted. West Zone 90/3 in 25 overs

Dhruva Prasad from Coimbatore: Shaw has looked imperious during his 66-ball fifty, barring the reprieve he got when he was dropped on 37 driving on the up. Tripathi took time and got off the mark off his 15th ball. But he broke the shackles with a lap shot to the fine-leg boundary off Kumar Kartikeya, who came on to bowl in the 19th over. West 71/2 in 20 overs 

Lalith Kalidas from Salem: Mayank Agarwal falls on 49 off 59 balls, right after bringing up South Zone’s 100. Mayank Dagar cleans him up with a fuller delivery. Hanuma Vihari walks in. Meanwhile, Rohan Kunnummal has raced to his fifth consecutive First Class 50-plus score on the back of seven fours and a six. Saini and the spinners have been at the receiving end of a fine range of cuts from the opener. South Zone 102/1 in 22.3 overs 

Rohan Kunnummal raced to his fifth consecutive First Class 50-plus score during the Duleep Trophy semifinal against North Zone.
| Photo Credit: Lalith Kalidas

Dhruva Prasad from Coimbatore: Dropped! Shaw gets a reprieve as he is dropped by Rinku Singh in the covers on 37. It was a gentle push as Rinku held on to it diving to his right but the ball popped out as his elbows hit the ground.

Dhruva Prasad from Coimbatore: Shaw is unbeaten on 35 along with Rahul Tripathi, who is yet to get off the mark after facing 7 balls. West 48/2 in 14 overs at Drinks

Lalith Kalidas from Salem: FIFTY up for South Zone in 13 overs. Kunnummal celebrates with a superb lofted-straight drive over the bowler. Both batters have picked on the scoring rate as North’s bowlers have just not shown enough intent with the ball in the 1st hour. 

Dhruva Prasad from Coimbatore: Rahane is gone, offering no shot as the ball seems to have nipped in and struck him in front. Gaurav Yadav with the breakthrough. Rahane out for 8. Rahul Tripathi is in at 4. West Zone 37/2 in 11.2 overs

Ajinkya Rahane walks back after being clean bowled by Gaurav Yadav.
| Photo Credit: Dhruva Prasad

Rahane has looked shaky. He got off the mark on the 10th ball of his innings with an outside edge through the cordon for four. There’s a bit of miscommunication between him and Shaw, with Rahane surviving two run out chances. Gaurav Yadav comes as first change in the ninth over, replacing Rajpoot. Aniket, who has looked threatening all morning, continues. Rahane plays a crisp cover-drive as Aniket pitches it too full outside off. He is showing judiciousness on the off, not chasing the ones that are too far wide. The bowlers have played to the conditions. There was not much grass on the wicket so they have kept their lengths back all morning. West Zone 32/1 in 10 overs

Lalith Kalidas from Salem: First change in bowling as left-arm spinner Mayank Dagar replaces Saini. Kunnummal and Mayank have settled in nicely. Mayank has picked up after a sedate start with a couple of late cuts for fours, past the slips. South Zone 42/0 in 10 overs

Left-arm spinner Mayank Dagar in action during the Duleep Trophy semifinal against South Zone.
| Photo Credit: Lalith Kalidas

Dhruva Prasad from Coimbatore: Both pacers Ankit Rajpoot and Aniket Choudhary have extracted good bounce on this wicket, earning Yashasvi Jaiswal’s wicket, in the process. His opening partner Prithvi Shaw, however has enjoyed the bounce, cutting and punching off the backfoot for his four fours so far. West Zone 19/1 in 5 overs

Ajinkya Rahane faces the Central Zone bowlers in the Duleep Trophy semifinal.
| Photo Credit: Dhruva Prasad

Lalith Kalidas from Salem: Kunnummal is looking at ease as he counters Saini’s skiddy lengths early on. A beautiful straight drive for four in the third over is followed by an upper-cut for six over the slip cordon in the fifth. South Zone 20/0 in 5 overs. Meanwhile, Mayank is settling in slowly after surviving a caught-behind chance in the first over off Saini. South Zone 20/0 in 5 overs

Dhruva Prasad from Coimbatore: Yashasvi Jaiswal out for a duck, driving away from the body. Caught in the slips. Aniket Choudhary with the breakthrough. Ajinkya Rahane is in next. West Zone 14/1 in 3.3 overs.

Lalith Kalidas from Salem: Kunnummal and Mayank open the batting for South Zone. Navdeep Saini with the new ball for North. Good carry to the keeper off the first delivery.

Dhruva Prasad from Coimbatore: Injury scare for Prithvi Shaw after first ball. The physio checks up on him before the match continues. Shaw is opening with Yashasvi Jaiswal.

There was an injury scare for West Zone opener Prithvi Shaw early in the innings.
| Photo Credit: Dhruva Prasad

North Zone XI: Yash Dhull, Dhruv Shorey, Manan Vohra, Mandeep Singh, Himanshu Rana, Nishant Sindhu, Anmol Malhotra (wk), Mayank Dagar, Pulkit Narang, Navdeep Saini, Siddharth Kaul

South Zone XI: Hanuma Vihari, Mayank Agarwal, Rohan Kunnummal, Manish Pandey, Baba Indrajith, Ravi Teja, Ricky Bhui (wk), Sai Kishore, K Gowtham, Basil Thampi, Tanay Thyagarajan

West Zone XI: Rahane (c), Shaw, Jaiswal, Armaan Jaffer, Rahul Tripathi, Het Patel (wk), Mulani, Tanush Kotian, Unadkat, Chintan Gaja, Atit Sheth

Central Zone XI: Karan Sharma (c), Shubham Sharma, Mantri (wk), Yash Dubey, Priyam Garg, Rinku Singh, Venkatesh Iyer, Kumar Kartikeya, Aniket Choudhary, Ankit Rajpoot, Gaurav Yadav

TOSS UPDATE:

South Zone has won the toss and elected to bat.

Central Zone has won the toss and elected to bowl

Lalith Kalidas from Salem: Good morning from the SCF ground in Salem. The Duleep Trophy semifinal between North Zone and South Zone will be underway shortly. Both teams are going through their warmups. The wicket looks benign with tinges of green.

Dhruva Prasad from Coimbatore: “Looks a like a dry wicket here at SNR College Cricket Ground for the Duleep Trophy semifinal between West Zone and Central Zone. Just a tinge of grass on what looks like a belter.” Meanwhile, Prithvi Shaw and Yashasvi Jaiswal have had some intense slip catching drills this morning.

Here is W.V. Raman’s latest episode on where he talks about India’s domestic cricket season:

WHERE TO WATCH DULEEP TROPHY 2022-23 LIVE?

The Duleep Trophy isn’t available for live telecast or live streaming. Only the final will be broadcast by the Star Sports Network.