Kishan’s Unbeaten 111 Puts East Zone in Command of Duleep Trophy Final
By stumps in Chennai, East Zone had done far more than “see off the first hour” as captain Ishan Kishan had promised at the toss. They had seized the entire day.
On a surface offering just enough for the quicks and later some grip for the spinners, Kishan’s unbeaten 111 off 135 balls powered East Zone to a commanding 385 for 4 against South Zone. Around him, a series of contrasting cameos and one major supporting act turned a decent start into near-total control of this final.
South Zone walked off under the lights looking short of answers. Kishan, bat tucked under his arm, looked like he had plenty left.
Fire and ice at the top
The tone of the day was set in the first hour. Mohammed Siraj, fresh from a lukewarm Test series in Sri Lanka, steamed in with new ball in hand and immediate movement. His first ball to Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was an inswinging yorker that shaved the stumps via a thick inside edge to fine leg. Abhimanyu Easwaran, the “ice” in East Zone’s opening pair, adjusted quickly, shuffling across and tucking Siraj off his pads.
For three overs, it was a proper new-ball duel. Then East Zone’s openers took over.
Siraj and MD Nidheesh struggled to find any consistent length. Full balls bled boundaries; the short ones sat up. Easwaran cashed in first, whipping Siraj for back-to-back boundaries through the leg side as the stand rattled to 61 without loss in just nine overs.
Tilak Varma turned to spin early, introducing off-spinner Tripurana Vijay in the eighth over to target the left-handers. It made no dent. Easwaran danced down the track and launched Vijay over long-on for a six so big play stopped for five minutes while the ball was found. Ten overs gone, East Zone 70 for 0, both openers striking over a run a ball. Siraj looked more exasperated than threatening.
The crowd, allowed in free but in limited numbers, had turned up early. They got a show. Sooryavanshi, 15 years old and vice-captain, shifted from watchful to audacious. After two crisp boundaries through cover off Nidheesh, he took Siraj for a late cut four and a charge down the pitch for six over mid-off. “Kya yaar ye vice-captain,” Tilak was heard needling him on the stump mic, trying to break his focus. It only added to the theatre.
By drinks, East Zone were 91 for 0. Easwaran on 48, Sooryavanshi on 42. Siraj and Nidheesh had “failed to put any pressure,” as the numbers brutally underlined.
Easwaran anchors, Sooryavanshi stings
Easwaran reached the first fifty of the final, nudging Shreyas Gopal into the leg side to bring up a composed half-century. That he beat the free-scoring teenager to the landmark said plenty about the tempo of the opening stand.
At 98 for 0 in 14 overs, South Zone were desperate for a break. It came, fittingly, from a change of angle and a short ball. Left-armer Chama V Milind went around the wicket, banged it in, and Sooryavanshi – on 44 off 37 – charged to pull him into the stands. The connection was poor, the top edge soared, and substitute fielder Thyagarajan held on in the deep. A thrilling cameo ended six short of a fifty, but not before he had taken Siraj for 4, 6, 4 in one over and left a lasting impression.
S Mohan, another left-hander, replaced him and settled in alongside Easwaran. South Zone clawed back some control with that wicket and some tighter lines, but the damage of the opening burst lingered.
Then came the moment that turned the morning session. A tap into the off side from Easwaran, a hesitant single, and a mix-up with Mohan. The non-striker started, then aborted. Easwaran was stranded halfway down. Run out for 72, he trudged off having done the hard yards but knowing he’d just gifted South Zone a lifeline.
At lunch, East Zone were 133 for 2. South Zone, after being battered for 98 without loss, had “just about salvaged the morning.”
Mohan’s surge and the arrival of Kishan
The second session began with Siraj searching for redemption and East Zone looking to rebuild. Mohan, initially circumspect, started to unfurl his range. A Siraj over went wrong again: a no-ball, then two crisp boundaries from Mohan, who was beginning to find his rhythm.
At the other end, Kishan walked in with the innings finely poised. He took his time early, allowing Mohan to dictate. The opener exploded against Vijay, launching him over his head and then drilling two more boundaries in a 15-run over that rocketed him from 33 to 48. One more neat single and Mohan had his half-century from 60 balls – his fourth in first-class cricket – a knock that mixed patience with sudden bursts of aggression.
By the 37th over, East Zone were 182 for 3. Mohan 51 off 62, Kishan starting to settle. South Zone’s spinners, Gopal and Vijay, tried to squeeze the rate, but Mohan kept finding release shots. Back-to-back sixes off Gopal – one over wide long-on, the next over long-off – took him to 79 and forced Tilak into another rethink.
Kishan, meanwhile, was quietly building. A pull off Milind, a whip off Gopal through midwicket, and he was 32 off 48. The partnership had shifted the pressure back onto South Zone.
South Zone hit back, but only briefly
Just as Mohan seemed set for a century of his own, Milind struck again. A full, straight ball beat the bat and uprooted his stumps. Mohan walked off for a superb 85 off 120 balls, an innings laced with nine fours and three sixes, having done the heavy lifting in East Zone’s recovery from 107 for 1 to 241 for 4.
Tea came soon after with East Zone 246 for 4. South Zone could claim the session on the back of Mohan’s wicket and a tight spell from Siraj, who finally found a semblance of rhythm. Kishan was 33 not out, with young wicketkeeper-batter Kumar Kushagra on 4. The game, for the first time since the opening hour, felt delicately balanced.
That didn’t last long.
Kishan and Kushagra take over
After the break, Kishan resumed with purpose. Siraj’s short-ball ploy met a left-hander in complete control. Kishan moved to 43 off 63, cracking boundaries off Siraj as East Zone crossed 260. South Zone persisted with the bouncer plan, but both Kishan and Kushagra handled it calmly, swaying, riding, and occasionally punishing.
A neat leg glance off Siraj took Kishan to 4,000 first-class runs, a quiet milestone tucked inside a much louder day. He moved to 48 off 69, two runs short of a half-century, while Kushagra began to look increasingly assured at the other end. South Zone’s over-rate sagged enough to earn them an official warning for time-wasting.
Kishan’s fifty came with a pull into the deep midwicket region off Gopal, the landmark reached from 72 balls. He became the third East batter to pass fifty on the day, but the first who looked certain to turn it into something more. East Zone were 284 for 4 in the 63rd over, and the platform was now formidable.
From there, the gears shifted again. East Zone hit 300 for 4 in 67 overs, Kishan looking utterly assured on 62, Kushagra offering steady support. South Zone managed to slow the scoring for a period, but the scoreboard told the truth: East Zone had six wickets in hand and a substantial total in sight.
Then the pressure finally told. Across the 69th and 70th overs, Kishan and Kushagra plundered 26 runs. Kushagra unleashed a four and a six, Kishan added another boundary, and South Zone’s attack frayed at the edges. At 331 for 4 in 71 overs, East Zone were not just dictating terms; they were rewriting them.
The hundred, the hurt, and the late surge
Kishan moved into the 70s, then 90s, with barely a false stroke. A brief pause came when he called for the physio, but he stayed put, refocused, and resumed the assault. A crisp pull for four off Gopal took him to 96 off 114 balls. The hundred loomed.
He inched to 99, the field spread, the crowd murmuring. Then, in keeping with the day, he didn’t tiptoe to the landmark. He drove to the fence to bring up his 10th first-class century, three figures reached with a boundary that capped a superb, commanding innings.
By the time stumps were called, Kishan was still there on 111*, having gone from careful consolidator to dominant finisher. He had been particularly severe on the short ball, turning South Zone’s tactic into a liability rather than a weapon.
At the other end, Kushagra had played the ideal foil. His 63 was aggressive without being reckless, the kind of innings that keeps a set batter company while never letting the bowlers settle. Together, they turned 246 for 4 at tea into 385 for 4 at stumps, a brutal indictment of South Zone’s inability to close out a session.
A familiar venue, a very different script
Chennai last hosted a Duleep Trophy final in 2012-13, when East Zone beat Central Zone on first-innings lead. This time, with spin expected to dominate on days four and five, a result looks almost inevitable.
East Zone, armed with a deep attack that includes Mohammed Shami, have already done the hard batting work. Kishan’s decision at the toss to bat first, wary of early moisture but eyeing big runs, looks smarter with every run added to that 385.
South Zone, missing KL Rahul but boasting names like Siraj, Tilak Varma and Devdutt Padikkal, now face a brutal equation. They must bat long, bat well, and somehow find a way back into a final that East Zone, led by their captain’s unbeaten hundred and Mohan’s 85, have bent firmly in their direction.
Day two will reveal whether this was just East Zone’s day, or the day that decided the trophy.
