![]() The first match of Duleep Trophy, 1986-87 was played between the teams of Central Zone and East Zone and the match was held at Pune from 20-24 October, 1986. The Eats Zone captain, J Arun Lal won the toss and decided to bat first in the match. The East Zone batsmen responded to the captain's decision wonderfully and scored a mammoth total of 528 runs in their first innings. The captain, J Arun Lal led his team from the front by scoring a magnificent double century of 214 runs and he got wonderful support from A Mitra, who scored 120 runs. The Central Zone batsmen were quite under pressure after their bowlers let the East Zone batsmen score such a huge total in the first innings. However, the Central Zone batsmen batted well and scored a good total of 330 runs in their first innings. Yusuf Ali Khan played a good knock of 111 runs for Central Zone, while Randhir Singh took 6 wickets for 95 runs on behalf of East Zone in Central Zone's first innings. The East Zone was leading Central Zone by a huge margin of 198 runs in the first innings and the match's stipulated duration ended when the team reached the score of 226-2. The East Zone team won the drawn match on the basis of its lead in the first innings and it also entered into the Semi-Finals of Duleep Trophy, 1986-87. ![]() ![]() The Final of Duleep Trophy, 1986-87 involved the teams like West Zone and South Zone and the two teams played the match at Bombay from 31 October-05 November, 1986. The West Zone team batted first in the match, as its captain, R Shastri decided so after winning the toss. The West Zone batsmen carried forward their wonderful batting form of Semi-Final in the Final match also and they scored a huge total of 516 runs in their first innings. The two openers, A Gaekwad and L Rajput laid the foundation for West Zone's huge first innings total by making a huge opening partnership of 256 runs. While Gaekwad scored a magnificent century of 138 runs, Rajput played a knock of 105 runs for West Zone. The West Zone captain, R Shastri also made his own contribution and played a superb innings of 127 runs for helping his team in getting the huge total on the scoreboard. W Raman took 6 wickets for 123 runs on behalf of South Zone in West Zone's first innings. The South Zone batsmen scored one of the highest team totals in the history of Duleep Trophy, while replying to the mammoth total of West Zone in the first innings. The South Zone batsmen showed their real class in their first innings and scored a huge total of 740 runs, thanks to three brilliant centuries by B Arun, K Srikkanth and C Saldanha. While B Arun was the top scorer with a wonderful century of 149 runs, Srikkanth and Saldanha scored 112 runs and 102 runs, respectively in South Zone's first innings. The other brilliant all-rounder, W Raman also got a huge individual score of 95 runs for helping his team in surpassing the huge first innings total of West Zone. The West Zone batsmen were never seemed to be scared or tensed about the brilliant batting display by their opponents and they played according to their merit in their second innings. As the batsmen like S Keshwala, L Rajput and S Kalyani scored their individual centuries; the West Zone team scored a huge total of 472 runs for 3 wickets in the second innings. While Keshwala remained unbeaten on a score of 124 runs, Rajput and Kalyani scored 109 runs and 101 runs for their team. The other opener, C Pandit also played a good innings of 88 runs. However, as the stipulated duration of the match got over when the West Zone team reached the score of 472-3 in the second innings, the match eventually ended in a draw. The South Zone team was declared as the winner of the match, as it had a lead in the first innings and the team also clinched the championship title in Duleep Trophy, 1986-87. |