NEW DELHI: Central Zone survived a few anxious moments before beating South Zone by six wickets to clinch the Duleep Trophy after an 11-year wait on Monday.

Chasing a modest 65 on a crumbling fifth-day pitch at the BCCI CoE grounds, Central's top order was tested by South's bowlers but the target proved too small to defend.

Akshay Wadkar (19* off 52) and first-innings centurion Yash Rathod (13* off 16) guided their side to safety, taking Central to 66/4 in 20.3 overs to secure their seventh Duleep Trophy crown.

South, however, could take pride in their spirited second-innings fightback (426) and in stretching the contest with the ball in the final innings.

Left-arm spinner Ankit Sharma caused early jitters, removing Danish Malewar (5) with a sharp turner edged to keeper Mohammed Azharuddeen. He later dismissed Central skipper Rajat Patidar, who miscued a slog sweep to mid-on where MD Nidheesh completed the catch.

Pacer Gurjapneet Singh, who earned an India A call on Sunday, picked up the scalps of Shubham Sharma and the promoted Saransh Jain, who was later adjudged player of the series, to create some anxious moments in the Central camp.

But player of the match Rathod and Wadkar steered Central home without further damage.

For Patidar, it was his second title this year after guiding Royal Challengers Bengaluru to victory in the IPL, and he was understandably delighted.

"Every captain likes winning trophies. But our players showed a lot of character across the tournament and I am very happy about it.

"Here the wicket was slightly dry so we decided to bat first. I am pleased for Danish and Yash, they batted well here all the tournament," Patidar said during the post-match presentation ceremony.

South skipper Azharuddeen said reaching the final of the Duleep Trophy will work as a motivation for them in a long domestic season, which now enters the Ranji Trophy phase from October 15.

"We will get better from this experience, a long season ahead. Central spinners were hitting the right areas and we made a few bad decisions as a batting unit as well. But we fought well in the second innings, and happy about that we did not give up easily," he said.

(With PTI Inputs)