Feb 6: Karthik hits two centuries in Duleep final, but West win title

HYDERABAD: Dinesh Karthik, the vice-captain of Delhi Daredevils lit up the Duleep Trophy final with his second century of the match in the second innings of the clash against West Zone.

Karthik is only the third batsman after Lalchand Rajput and Yuvraj Singh to score two centuries in Duleep Trophy match.
Karthik, who had slammed 183 in the first innings, struck 150 on Thursday as South Zone declared their second essay at 386 for nine to set West a mammoth 536-run winning target. Karthik's blazing knock came off just 162 balls and was studded with 22 hits to the fence.

But in the end, Yusuf Pathan's incredible and unbeaten 210 helped West Zone achieve the biggest chase in first-class history, running down the target of 536 with three wickets in hand to win the Duleep Trophy final. Yusuf had five lives in his innings.

West Zone bowlers, including India discard Irfan Pathan, were largely ineffective when Karthik and Gautam were at the crease.
South Zone needed skipper Dinesh Karthik (150) to drive home the advantage and help build a solid 535 runs lead against West Zone after Dhawal Kulkarni's four-wicket burst ripped the hosts top order on day three of the Duleep Trophy final here on Thursday.

The wicketkeeper-bat Karthik showed no mercy as he choked the West bowlers with his dominating willow work. Karthik who came in to bat with four top batsmen back in the pavilion, found an able partner in CM Gautam as the wicket-keeping duo took South from a brittle 71 for four to a commanding 318 for five, adding 247 runs for the fifth wicket.

Karthik's elegant stroke play punctured the West bowlers' morale as he motored along at a brisk rate with CM Gautam giving him quality support, executing some handsome strokes to back Karthik's onslaught. The South skipper raced to his fifty in just 38 balls with nine hits to the fence.

West Zone 541 for 7 (Yusuf 210*, Pathak 130, Jaffer 66) and 251 (Yusuf 108, Ganapathy 5-75) beat South Zone 400 (Dinesh Karthik 183, Satish 53, Irfan 5-100) and 386 (Dinesh Karthik 150, Gautam 88, Kulkarni 5-58) by three wickets