South Zone won the Duleep Trophy semi-final in a thrilling run-chase as Tilak Varma, Ricky Bhui and R Sai Kishore helped their side achieve a 2-wicket victory against North Zone on Saturday, July 8. While South Zone's calculation during the run-chase stood out following several delays due to bad light interruption, North Zone's tactic of wasting time has become a huge talking point.
South Zone had conceded a first-innings lead of three runs and were chasing a target of 215 runs to win the game. South Zone needed to chase down the target in order to reach the final and required 194 runs on the final day but poor umpiring and North Zone's delay tactics didn't help.
A total of 5.5 overs were bowled in 53 minutes in a frustrating period of play including 12 minutes for one over (35th), as captain Jayant Yadav moved his field around frequently, made constant changes, sawdust was brought on to improve the bowler's landing area and stuff like that because if the match ended in a draw, North Zone would have won it by virtue of the three-run lead in the first innings.
Commenting on North Zone's tactics, South Zone skipper Hanuma Vihari wasn't surprised saying that everyone wants to win and he would have been in their place, he would have done the same while commending his batters and with the calculative run-chase they managed to achieve.
"I think domestic cricket is like that. I've come across a lot of games where teams try to delay in the final few overs to gain advantage. Some may say it is not in the spirit of the game but even if I was the captain, I would have done the same thing.
"They ended up on the losing side but if there was bad light they could have won. Anything to win, to a point, is fair. They will be penalised for slow over rate but they took the risk for a possible win. The delaying tactics affect the rhythm, but I told Tilak and Ricky to be prepared for it. Once the weather improved we sent a message that we have the time and to take singles. Communication was the key and on that front, we did well," Vihari further said.
Former India and Karnataka cricketer Dodda Ganesh also criticised North Zone while bringing Spirit of Cricket into the discussion but was happy that South Zone prevailed despite several factors going against them.
