Overview

• Central Zone will begin the final day needing 65 runs with all ten wickets in hand to seal the title.
• South Zone reached 426 in their second innings after a 192-run seventh-wicket stand between Ankit Sharma (99) and Andre Siddarth (84 not out).
• Kumar Kartikeya took 4 for 110 and Saransh Jain 3 for 130, with early strikes from Deepak Chahar and Kuldeep Sen checking South’s progress.
• Central’s control was built on a first-innings 511 featuring Yash Rathod’s 194 and Rajat Patidar’s 101.
• A successful chase would deliver Central their first Duleep Trophy in 11 years at the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru, in a final affected by India A call-ups.