Watch: Little-known South Zone seamer traps Cheteshwar Pujara, Suryakumar off same over in crucial Duleep Trophy final spell
Watch: Karnataka seamer Vasuki Koushik tilted the 2023 Duleep Trophy final in South Zone’s favour with a crucial double strike, dismissing India internationals Cheteshwar Pujara and Suryakumar Yadav in the same over against West Zone.
Chasing 298 to win the Duleep Trophy, India’s zonal red-ball competition, West Zone slipped from 75-2 to 79-4 by sending back Pujara and Suryakumar in the space of three balls, dismissed in the same over by Koushik. Bowling medium pace and sharing the new ball with Vidwath Kaverappa, he pierced through the West Zone middle order in the 36th over.
Pujara was the first one to go, bat-padding a delivery angling in to short leg, which ended his stay on 15. Later, Suryakumar succumbed to a sharp inswinger, failing to read the line and being hit on the pad, with the third umpire upholding the original decision.
Earlier, Koushik dismissed Prithvi Shaw to give South Zone their first breakthrough, and ended the day with figures of 17-3-28-3. West Zone, however, fought back through opener Priyank Panchal’s unbeaten 92 and Sarfaraz Khan’s 48, taking them to 182-5 at the end of Day 4.
They now need 116 runs to claim the trophy on the final day. South Zone need five wickets.
