Duleep Trophy 2026: Tilak Varma Powers South Zone To 24th Final Appearance With Seven-Wicket Win Over North Zone

Hyderabad: The final of the Duleep Trophy 2026 is set to be played between South Zone and East Zone. South Zone booked their place in the Duleep Trophy final for the 24th time, beating North Zone by seven wickets in the semis. Tilak Varma played a crucial role in South Zone’s win with a knock of 51 runs. He was awarded Player of the Match for an impressive performance with the bat in both innings.

With the win, South Zone continued their dominance in the tournament. In the past, the team has won 13 titles from 23 final appearances in the tournament.

North Zone started their second innings on 256/7 on the fourth and last day of the semifinal against South Zone. They were trailing by 117 runs in the first innings and so needed a solid total in the second innings to challenge the opposition. However, the team lost their remaining three wickets for just 41 runs in the first session of the fourth day.

Sanat Sangwan (76) and Ayush Doseja (52) scored fifties, but the lower-order batters struggled to make crucial contributions. Anshul Kambhoj (36) put in some fight, but he was also unable to help the team cross the 300-run mark, and they were bundled out for 296 in the second innings. MD Nidheesh picked up a five-wicket haul for South Zone.

Chasing a target of 182, South Zone's top-order batters played significant knocks. Ricky Bhui (42) and Narayan Jagadeesan (43) made vital contributions while Tilak Varma played a knock of 51 runs. Abid Mushtaq picked two wickets for North Zone.

Tilak wins Man of the Match

The left-handed batter played knocks of 116 runs and 51 runs. He led from the front with his batting display and led the team to a decisive first-innings lead. Also, when they were reduced to 65/2, he first built a partnership with Jagadeesan and then with Ravichandran Smaran.