On the first day of Duleep Trophy 2025 Final, Central Zone bundled out South Zone for 149 runs. The spin duo of Saransh Jain and Kumar Karthikeya did wonders and South Zone's team collapsed in the first innings.

Duleep Trophy 2025 Final: Central Zone, thanks to spinners Saransh Jain (five wickets for 49 runs) and Kumar Karthikeya (four wickets for 53 runs), on Thursday shook the batting order of South Zone on the first day of the Duleep Trophy final and bundled it out for just 149 runs in 63 overs in the first innings. Saransh Jain and Kumar Karthikeya together bowled 45 overs. By stumps, Central Zone had scored 50 runs without losing a wicket, which left them 99 runs behind in the first innings. Danish Malewar was at the crease with 28 and Akshay Wadkar with 20 runs.

Jain bowled 24 consecutive overs. Kartikeya bowled more conventional spin than wrist spin and both these bowlers were the main architects of Central Zone's strong position. South Zone's troubles started in the 16th over when opener Mohit Kale (06) was bowled while trying to play a careless sweep off Kartikeya.

South then lost three more wickets before lunch to reach 64 for four in 33 overs but the biggest loss of the session was the run out of Tanmay Agarwal (31 off 76 balls) who was batting well but was run out after colliding with his partner Ricky Bhui (15) in the middle of the pitch.

Karthikeya soon dismissed Mohammad Azharuddin with a brilliant delivery. Despite this, South batsmen continued to play carelessly in the post-lunch session. The dismissal of Tamil Nadu batsman Andre Siddharth was an example of this doubtful batting. He fell prey to Karthikeya's well-planned ploy and was stumped by Upendra Yadav.

Salman Nizar (24) was South Zone's last hope to cross the 200-run mark but the Kerala batsman fell prey to Jain's delivery. The off-spinner's delivery touched Nizar's bat and went into the hands of Rajat Patidar in the gully.

After Nizar's dismissal, the South team could not struggle much. Thus, Jain took five wickets for the ninth time in first-class cricket. He had also taken five wickets for 84 runs against West Zone in the Duleep Trophy semifinal here last week.

Central Zone openers Malewar and Akshay Wadkar looked confident at the crease and were playing comfortably, assessing the ball correctly. There were strong appeals for LBW on a cloudy day but the Central Zone batsmen comfortably made a 50-run partnership.