Vyshak Vijaykumar's short-ball strategy leaves North batters with tall order

The 35th over of North Zone's second innings of the Duleep Trophy semi-final began with a change in plan from South Zone: after continuing to pitch the ball up for a while under overcast skies to try and find movement and wickets, South switched to the short-ball strategy.

Prabhsimran Singh and Ankit Kumar, who had got together at a tricky 61 for 3 after North had only squeezed out a three-run first-innings lead, were starting to steady the innings. Their partnership soon crossed fifty and they looked good for even more, thanks to the new-found nimbleness of Prabhsimran, who, until then, had struck eight of his 11 boundaries on the third morning itself.

With a short leg, straightish fine leg, deepish fine leg and deep square leg in place, Prabhsimran swatted at a short ball from around the wicket from Vyshak Vijaykumar. Vyshak continued with the plan in the 37th over - the fourth delivery of the over was pulled by Prabhsimran between midwicket and mid-on. However, Vyshak had the last laugh when Prabhsimran found deep square leg with another attempted pull.

That wicket started a collapse as North lost 7 for 65 to fold for 211. That wicket fell in the second over of Vyshak's third spell in the second innings. After his third spell, his figures read 9-0-54-2, and that trigger helped him end the day with 15-0-76-5.

While that final economy rate was still on the higher side, Vyshak showed the willingness to hit back before the game slipped out of South's grasp. He looked confident after every short ball he banged, almost taking the slowness of the pitch out of the equation. Prabhsimran had slammed two fours off the short balls, and the boundaries at the Chinnaswamy Stadium were short too, but Vyshak tirelessly dug the ball into the pitch.

"I thought that [in] the second innings, the wicket was a little flatter. So I had to pull my lengths back," Vyshak said after the third day's play. "Prabhsimran was batting really well, so the plan was to get him to pull, and it worked. I got my rhythm back."

Vyshak continued to stay on the shorter side, and took three more wickets with that length. On the fourth ball of the 46th over, Jayant Yadav got an inside edge on to the stumps as he looked to block a good-length ball angling in from outside off. Two balls later, Pulkit Narang was cramped by a short ball that came into him and ended up slashing to slip.

He got his fifth wicket with another one which rose sharply, this time at the left-handed Nishant Sindhu, who ended up gloving a pull behind to the wicketkeeper. It invited an animated celebration from Vyshak, whose roar reverberated around the quiet and empty Chinnaswamy.

Since Vyshak's first-class debut for Karnataka in February 2022, only Krishnappa Gowtham has taken more wickets for the side. While Vyshak has 38 wickets in the period, Gowtham has 48. However, Gowtham (506 overs) has had the benefit of bowling more overs than Vyshak (291) during the time.

South also had Vyshak's new-ball partner Vidwath Kaverappa to thank for helping restrict North. Kaverappa had extracted two of the three wickets on the second evening, and Vyshak spoke of their rapport, which has brought success for Karnataka too.

Since June 2022, when Kaverappa made his first-class debut, the pair has combined to pick up 78 wickets at 19.77 in games where they have played together. That is the second-best among all bowling pairs in the format in India, among those to have taken a minimum of 75 combined wickets at an average of less than 20. That includes combined figures of 59.3-11-177-13 in this match, where Kaverappa grabbed 5 for 28 in the first innings. So what makes them click?

"He was telling me what we can do. I was trying to bowl quick, and he said that if you try to backspin, you will get bounce from this wicket," Vyshak said. "The partnership is working out well. We exchange thoughts, and our understanding is good."

Set 215 to enter the final, South are now 194 away from victory ahead of the final day's play. Much of that credit goes to Vyshak and Kaverappa. There is promise, and with that, the prospect of shining again in the upcoming Ranji Trophy.