While East Zone were sealing their place in the Duleep Trophy final, the other semi-final in Bengaluru swung hard in North Zone's favour. Set back on their heels by South Zone's Tilak Varma-inspired 312, North Zone used the third day to turn a first-innings deficit into a genuine lead — and set up a final day that will decide who joins East Zone in Chennai.
North Zone began the day still needing to erase a 117-run first-innings deficit, and got the platform they needed from openers Sanat Sangwan and Ayush Doseja, who put on 104 for the second wicket — Sangwan making 76 and Doseja 52. Vice-captain Ayush Badoni chipped in with a further 31 as North Zone pushed past South Zone's total and into the lead for the first time in the match.
South Zone did not let that momentum run away from them. Shreyas Gopal and MD Nidheesh triggered a sharp collapse that saw North Zone slide from 175/2 to 209/7, undoing much of the good work of the Sangwan-Doseja stand and threatening to turn a promising position back into a tight one. It took Nishant Sindhu and Anshul Kamboj — both all-rounders capable of batting deep into an innings — to arrest the slide, and they did exactly that.
Sindhu (20 not out) and Kamboj (29 not out) were still together when the umpires called stumps, with North Zone closing on 256 for 7 — a lead of 139 runs with three second-innings wickets still in hand. Reports from the ground suggest the tail is aiming to push that lead past 200 before declaring or being bowled out, which would leave South Zone needing a substantial final-day chase to reach the final.
With four days allotted to the semi-final and this being the last of them, there is no draw that helps either side here — South Zone must either bowl North Zone out cheaply and chase down whatever target follows, or the match simply runs out of time with North Zone in the stronger position. Tilak Varma's century in South Zone's first innings, and the bowling depth that has kept North Zone honest all match, mean South Zone are far from beaten at 139 behind with wickets in hand — but the pressure is now squarely on the chasing team.
Whichever side wins this semi-final will face East Zone — who beat Central Zone by four wickets, with Mohammed Shami taking five wickets in the match and 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi continuing his breakout tournament — in the Duleep Trophy final at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, from September 6 to 10. South Zone, last season's runners-up, will have extra motivation to go one better than 2025; North Zone will simply be looking to close out a fightback that, twenty-four hours ago, looked unlikely.
Follow the final day of play and the build-up to the final on SportGod's live matches page, and browse more cricket coverage across the domestic season.
Day 3 scores, partnerships and the state of play are verified against same-day reporting from Bengaluru, current as of September 1-2, 2026.
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