Duleep Trophy 2025 Q/F: Batters help North, Central Zone dominate Day 1

Danish Malewar's unbeaten 198 was the biggest highlight of Day 1 action in the quarterfinals of the Duleep Trophy 2025

The much-anticipated domestic season of cricket in India kicked off today with the quarterfinal matches of the Duleep Trophy 2025. In the quarterfinals, North Zone is taking on East Zone, while North East Zone is facing Central Zone. The winners of the two quarterfinals will then face South Zone and West Zone in the semifinals starting September 4.

 

Day 1 of the quarterfinals was dominated by the batters, led by centuries from Rajat Patidar and Danish Malewar of Central Zone. But what exactly happened on Day 1 of the Duleep Trophy quarterfinals? Take a look. 

Danish-Rajat dominate for Central Zone

In the first quarterfinal between North East Zone and Central Zone, the former won the toss and opted to bowl first, and their decision almost proved correct when Akash Choudhary removed Ayush Pandey (3) cheaply to hand his team an early lead. However, Aryan Juyal (60 retired hurt) then added 139 runs for the second wicket with Danish Malewar to put his team in a strong position before leaving the field due to injury.

 

Danish continued his brilliant innings and hit a century, adding 204 runs in tandem with skipper Rajat Patidar (125), who was dismissed by Pheirojiam Jotin. Danish Malewar (198 not out) and Yash Rathod (32 not out) then added an unbeaten 85 for the third wicket to avoid further damage as the day came to a close, with the scoreboard reading Central Zone 432 for 2 after 77 overs.

Crucial partnerships keep North Zone afloat

In the second quarterfinal between North Zone and East Zone, the latter won the toss and opted to bowl first, but it was North who dominated, thanks to steady innings from their players. For North Zone, Ayush Badoni (63) was the only batter to cross the 50-run mark, but useful cameos from Nishant Sandhu (47), Kanhaiya (42 not out), Yash Dhull (39), Ankit Kumar (30), and Mayank Dagar (28 not out) helped North Zone end the day on a high, with the scoreboard reading 308 for 6 after 75.2 overs as play was called off early due to rain.

 

For East Zone, Manishi was the best bowler with three wickets to his name, while Md Shami, Mukhtar Hussain, and Suraj Sindhu took one wicket each.