India batting prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi played a quickfire knock of 40 during East Zone’s chase of 159 against Central Zone in the semi-final of the Duleep Trophy on Tuesday. The 15-year-old slammed three fours and two sixes during his 43-ball knock, including 18 off Yash Thakur ‘s over.
However, the pacer eventually had the last laugh as he got the better of Sooryavanshi on the final ball of the 14th over, despite conceding four consecutive boundaries earlier in the same over.
It took an extraordinary catch from Central Zone captain Rajat Patidar to cut short Sooryavanshi’s innings. Sooryavanshi tried to pull the delivery over the leg side but ended up miscuing it towards deep midwicket. Patidar had to cover plenty of ground while backtracking, but showed great composure to pull off a stunning catch. Meanwhile, East Zone beat Central Zone by four wickets to enter the final of the Duleep Trophy.
Chasing 159 at the BCCI Centre of Excellence Ground 1, East Zone rode on vice-captain Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s knock and an unbeaten 39-run cameo from skipper Ishan Kishan to book their place in the final. In a match that has now been reduced to a second-innings shootout, Central are placed rather precariously at 45 for three at close. But the 15-year-old Sooryavanshi was the star of the day and he became the youngest batter to score a fifty in the Duleep Trophy, surpassing Laxman Singh who achieved the feat as a 16-year-old in 1969.
