Match Details

CZ vs EZ, 1st Semi Final TEST, Duleep Trophy 2026 summary

EZ 266(57.0)

162-6(39.3)

East Zone won by 4 wickets 🏆

266(80.1)

(50.2)158-10

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For now, this is Saptak Sanyal, signing off on the behalf of my co-commentator Ninaad Dixit and the scorer/analyst of this match Danish Elahi.

East Zone have qualified for the Duleep Trophy final after 13 years. They will now travel to Chennai, where the MA Chidambaram Stadium will host the final. The other semi-final is still going on at the adjacent ground. North Zone suffered a 117-run first innings deficit against South Zone, but came back in their next innings and now their lead is 117, as we type. That game has one more day remaining, and the winner of that clash will lock horns with East Zone. The first ball will be bowled on 6th September, Sunday at 9:30 AM IST and Local Time. Do join us for that.

That marks the end of our coverage from this Duleep Trophy semi-final fixture. East Zone kept their nerves in their second innings and eventually came out with flying colours. After a tie in first innings scores, it was down to how the teams do in their respective second innings. EZ pacers bundled Central Zone out for a low score of 158 and their skipper remained unbeaten to take his team home next.

Player of the Match: Mukesh Kumar

Session Summary, Day 3:

Morning Session: 30.2 Overs, 113 Runs, 7 Wickets

Afternoon Session: 21 Overs, 72 Runs, 2 Wickets

Evening Session: 18.3 Overs, 90 Runs, 4 Wickets

4:29 PM IST and Local Time: Mohammed Shami hit the winning runs for East Zone and they qualify for the Duleep Trophy final after a gap of 13 years. This is a huge moment for them. Ishan Kishan, the skipper of EZ, keeps his unbeaten streak as a skipper in First Class cricket intact. Rajat Patidar-led Central Zone, the defending champions, are knocked out in the semi-final. They will be disappointed for sure.

East Zone skipper Ishan Kishan won the toss and opted to bowl first. Abhijit Sarkar jolted the Central Zone twice by removing Aman Mokhade and Kunal Chandela cheaply. But Aryan Juyal fought despite losing Rajat Patidar and Yash Rathod from the other end. Juyal's 46 laid a good foundation to the Central Zone innings and Rinku Singh build on that to score a fine 60 off 88 balls and top scored for his side. But Mukesh Kumar removed Rinku and his fellows reduced Central Zone to 221/9. But the tail wagged and CZ ended with 266. Aryan Pandey (22) and Yash Thakur (30) added crucial runs to help their team.

For East Zone, Abhijit Sarkar (3/36) and Mukesh Kumar (3/56) shone with the ball. Mohammed Shami took two important wickets of Yash Rathod and Arshad Khan. Debutant Kounain Quraishi removed two key all-rounders in Harsh Dubey and Saransh Jain.

When East Zone came in pursuit of 267 runs for a first innings lead, they were off to a flying start. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi took on every single bowler of the Central Zone team and his opening partner Abhimanyu Easwaran played the perfect second fiddle to him. Vaibhav hit 7 fours and as many sixes on his way to score 92 off 81 balls, before his wild hack off Harsh Dubey found Arshad Khan at deep midwicket. Kumar Kushagra fell next ball, but Easwaran and Sudip Kumar Gharami arrested the collapse with their 39-run stand for the third wicket. But EZ were reduced to 213/5 from 200/2, losing Easwaran (69), Virat Singh (5) and Gharami (25). Ishan Kishan and Anukul Roy fell for identical scores (16) and EZ lost their last four wickets in 20 runs. East Zone got bundled out for exactly 266, the score Central Zone also got in their innings and it became a one-innings shootout after that.

Harsh Dubey was the pick of the bowlers for Central Zone, picking up 4 wickets for 66 runs. Aryan Pandey (3/43) and Yash Thakur (3/66) took the rest of the wickets for Central Zone.