Twitter Reactions: South Zone defeat West Zone early on Day 5 of summit clash to clinch Duleep Trophy

The final of the Duleep Trophy 2023 came to an end with the Hanuma Vihari-led South Zone getting redemption and defeating West Zone to win the title. Notably, the summit clash was played at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru from July 12–16.

Coming in to bat after losing the toss, South Zone got off to a horrid start as opener Ravikumar Samarth was sent packing for just seven runs. The knocks of Tilak Varma, Mayank Agarwal, and skipper Hanuma Vihari, however, stabilized their innings. Agarwal scored 28 runs, with Varma adding another 40 runs on the board. Vihari played a brilliant 63-run knock and helped his side post 213 runs on the board in the first innings.

West Zone had put in a great effort with the ball, as Shams Mulani took three wickets and several other bowlers picked up wickets to keep the momentum going. Looking to minimize their trail and notch up a big lead in the first innings, West Zone failed to make an impact with the bat. 

After Prithvi Shaw's 65-run knock, none of the batters went big. Priyank Panchal was dismissed for 11 runs, Cheteshwar Pujara was sent packing for just nine runs, and Suryakumar Yadav only managed eight runs. West Zone were bundled out for just 146 runs, and their opponents did their best to capitalize on the lead and set a mammoth target.

Decent knocks by Mayank Agarwal, Hanuma Vihari, Ricky Bhui, and Washington Sundar helped South Zone amass 230 runs on the board and set a target of 298 runs to win for West Zone.

Priyank Panchal’s valiant effort in vain as West Zone slip

Aiming to chase down the target of 298 runs, West Zone got off to the worst of starts as Prithvi Shaw was dismissed for just seven runs. Skipper Priyank Panchal kept West Zone’s hopes alive heading into Day 5 as he played a brilliant knock of 95 runs during the run chase. 

The spells of Sai Kishore and Vasuki Koushik, however, proved to be too much to handle for West Zone, as both bowlers took four wickets each, and propelled South Zone to a 75-run victory.

Here’s how Twitter reacted to South Zone’s Duleep Trophy win: