Bengaluru, Sept. 2 -- Skipper Tilak Varma played a second successive influential knock, guiding South Zone to the Duleep Trophy final with a seven-wicket win over North Zone on the fourth and final day of the semifinal here on Wednesday.
Chasing 181, South Zone got the job done in the first two sessions of the day after Tilak (51 not out) and
Ravichandran Smaran
(32 not out) milked 80 runs for the unbroken fourth wicket stand.
South ended with 182 for three towards the end of the second session and they will face East Zone in the title clash in Chennai from September 6.
Tilak, who had made an unbeaten 116 in the first innings to help South gain a match-clinching 117-run lead, came to the middle when his side was wobbling at 102 for three.
But the left-hander, who is also India's vice-captain for the upcoming T20I series against Afghanistan, once again displayed temperament and technique to counter North bowlers led by fiery pacer Gurnoor Brar and the wily left-arm spinner Abid Mushtaq.
Brar tested his resolve with a series of rib-crackers while Mushtaq exploited the variable bounce on the pitch to challenge Tilak's footwork.
He aced those challenges in spectacular fashion, essaying some sumptuous drives on the off-side. Once he settled down,
Tilak played a reverse sweep and paddle sweep off Mushtaq to take South closer to the target.
Smaran, at the other end, was an able ally, rotating the strike with efficiency and occasionally freed his hands.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.