South Zone will face East Zone in the final of the Duleep Trophy tournament for the first time after 55 years with the title clash in Chennai starting on Sunday.
Published: September 2, 2026, 4:43 PM IST
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Tilak Varma en route to scoring 51 not out for South Zone in Duleep Trophy 2026 final on Wednesday(Photo: IANS)
South Zone vs North Zone Duleep Trophy 2026 semifinal: Team India T20I vice-captain Tilak Varma warmed up to red-ball cricket in style with his match-winning performance in the Duleep Trophy 2026 semifinal for South ZoneTilak Varma’s twin knocks of 116 not out and 51 not out guided his side to a seven-wicket win over North Zone at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence (CoE) on Wednesday and set up a title clash against East Zone featuring Vaibhav Sooryavanshi for the first time after 55 years.
The Duleep Trophy 2026 final is now set to begin at the iconic MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai from Sunday, September 6Tilak Varma, who was retained for Rs 8 crore by Nita Ambani’s Mumbai Indians, was named the ‘Player of the Match’ in the Duleep Trophy semifinal.
“I have always loved to play the red ball cricket, and I have never dreamt of playing white ball formats for India, but that’s a God’s planI have debuted in T20 and One-Dayers for India, but my strength has always been red ball cricket,” Tilak said after the match.
WATCH Tilak Varma hit the winning runs in the Duleep Trophy 2026 semifinal HERE…
South Zone cruise into the final
They chase down 181 and beat North Zone by 7 wickets
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/AGjIStrDAT#DuleepTrophy | #SZvNZ pic.twitter.com/UXTDC4wdF4
— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) September 2, 2026
Tilak Varma has turned out in 53 T20I games and five ODIs for Team India but has never been selected for Test team as yetIn first-class cricket, he has an average of 55.77 with 1729 runs in 24 matches with 8 hundreds and 6 fifties to his name.
“I have worked hard, no one has seen it, maybe since I was 10 years old, and now I am 23I got selected to white ball formats due to the IPLBut before that I have grounded a lot in red ball cricketSo, it’s always my strength and I love playing Test cricket, something that’s always there in my blood,” Tilak Varma said.
Chasing 181-run target, South Zone got the job done in the first couple of sessions of the 4th day after Tilak (51 not out) and Ravichandran Smaran (32 not out) put on 80 runs for the unbroken fourth wicket partnership.
Tilak, who had scored an unbeaten 116 in the first innings to help South gain a match-winning 117-run first innings lead, came to the middle when his side was wobbling at 102 for 3 in the 4th innings.
Brar tested Tilak Varma’s resolve with a series of bouncers while left-arm spinner Abid Mushtaq exploited the variable bounce on the pitch to challenge his footworkOnce he settled down, Tilak played a reverse sweep and paddle sweep off Mushtaq to take South closer to the target.
Both southpaws knocks meant that South also overcame loss of openers Narayan Jagadeesan (43) and Ricky Bhui (42), who put on 64 runs for the opening wicket.
Earlier, North Zone had their own little moments once they resumed their second innings from 256 for seven for an overall lead of 139 runsChennai Super Kings pacer Anshul Kamboj’s 29-ball 36 helped them stretch that lead over a healthy 180.
