South Zone 213 (Vihari 63, Mulani 3-29) and 230 (Vihari 42, Jadeja 5-40) beat West Zone 146 (Shaw 65, Kaverappa 7-53) and 222 (Panchal 95, Koushik 4-36, Sai Kishore 4-57) by 75 runs
"I opened the curtains and looked up towards the skies first thing after I woke up."
Hanuma Vihari knew South Zone wouldn't have it easy picking up the five remaining West Zone wickets to win the Duleep Trophy final on Sunday. They still had 116 runs to defend, but Priyank Panchal was unbeaten on 92 overnight, having played an innings of great defiance and skill on a Chinnaswamy track that was showing signs of wear and tear.
As it turned out, Vihari's prayers were answered as the day dawned overcast and grey in Bengaluru, allowing the seamers to come into the game immediately. Vidwath Kaverappa, fresh off a career-best 7 for 53 in the first innings that earned him applause and a pep talk from the national selectors, nicked off Panchal in the second over of the day with one that held its line.
The big hurdle in South's way was out of the way. From there on, it seemed as though victory was a foregone conclusion. West's batting might was subsided with precision and well-laid bowling plans.
R Sai Kishore, the left-arm spinner, picked up three of the five wickets to fall on the final day; each of them courtesy flight that lulled lower-order batters into playing the big shots. It was a ringing endorsement of how well the pacers bowled right through the game, because batters were looking for a release at the first available opportunity against spin.
Unfortunately, they didn't get it.
Dharmendrasinh Jadeja was out miscuing a slog to mid-off, Chintan Gaja was out caught at midwicket as he attempted a heave, and Atit Sheth, the last man out, was done in by the dip as he swung for the hills. Sai Kishore walked away with 4 for 57 after having minimal bowling to do for large parts.
Seamer V Koushik was the pick of the bowlers, though. His spell late on the fourth day, which accounted for the wickets of Cheteshwar Pujara and Suryakumar Yadav in the space of three deliveries, made the difference in the game.
Koushik, whose bowling action is bit of a throwback to Mohinder Amarnath's - the saunter and an air of languidness before finishing with a whippy action - profited from accuracy and late movement that didn't allow batters to switch off.
At 30, he may be a late bloomer, but the performance was another reminder of the value he brings to Karnataka in domestic cricket, and the potential they have to develop a fine bowling unit with Kaverappa, who earned the Player-of-the-Match award, and Vijaykumar Vyshak.
In all, the Karnataka pace trio picked up 16 of the 20 West wickets. Kaverappa's seven-for set up the game in the first innings and Koushik's blows tripped West in the second at a time when the game was delicately poised.
Vyshak, who is riding a wave of confidence following a debut IPL stint earlier this year, also impressed with his improved pace and sustained short-ball tactic that felled Prithvi Shaw at a crucial juncture in the first innings after he had made 65. That South found themselves in the final was incidentally because of Vyshak's telling spell in the semi-final against North Zone, where he picked up 5 for 76 to limit the lead, in a game that was decided by fine margins.
West were comfortably the more accomplished batting line-up on paper, but South proved cricket was played on the field. Pujara, who fill be flying off to the UK to finish his county commitments with Sussex, managed scores of 28, 133, 9 and 15 in his four outings; Suryakumar, India's T20I vice-captain, had disappointing returns, managing just one half-century in four knocks.
Shaw, who has chosen to play in England instead of in the Deodhar Trophy, managed 26, 25, 65 and 7 in his four innings. It's a sign of how far he's dipped that Shaw doesn't even find himself in the mix in India's second-string squad for the Asian Games. An opportunity at the Duleep Trophy, in that sense, was wasted. Like Shaw, Sarfaraz Khan too didn't help matters with lean returns; the 48 he made on Saturday his only innings of substance in the tournament.
For someone like Washington Sundar, finding his feet after a series of injuries, playing two straight games injury free must have felt like a win. It's a different matter that he didn't have too many overs under his belt with the ball, but he batted solidly in the time he spent in the middle, making one wonder why he didn't bat a lot higher than at No. 7.
As Vihari lifted the trophy and South posed for the winning picture, they belted Yeh dosti hum nahin todenge (We won't break this friendship) - a chartbuster about friendship from the 1970s. It told you why the zonal format was heaps better than players being assigned to random teams such as Red, Green and Blue.
"Players were going through the motions with that format. Here, it didn't feel like we were coming from different states. There was intensity right through, it felt different," Vihari said after the win.
It certainly did.
