Overview

• South Zone advanced after posting 536 and bowling North Zone out for 361, with N Jagadeesan scoring 197 and unbeaten 52 and pacers Gurjapneet Singh (4-96) and MD Nidheesh (3-82) leading the attack.
• North opener Shubham Khajuria’s 128 was the standout in a reply that fell well short, as Vasuki Koushik removed him early on the final morning before South closed at 95/1 to seal the draw and first-innings advantage.
• Central Zone secured progression by piling 600 in response to West Zone’s 438, built on fifties from Shubham Sharma (96), Rajat Patidar (77), Upendra Yadav (87) and Harsh Dubey (75), plus Saransh Jain’s 63 not out.
• West’s second-innings resistance ended at 216/8 with Yashasvi Jaiswal’s 64 the lone bright spot, as Saransh Jain took 5/84 and Dubey 3/96 to cap an all-round display that earned Jain the Player of the Match award.
• The five-day final begins September 11 at the BCCI Centre of Excellence, with both squads set to lose players to India A duty, including Jagadeesan, Devdutt Padikkal, Harsh Dubey, Yash Thakur and Khaleel Ahmed.