An epic 270 from skipper Ishan Kishan has put East Zone in complete control of the Duleep Trophy final against South Zone in Chennai. Kishan’s monumental double and Kumar Kushagra‘s 101 ensured that a total in excess of 700 was registered at Chepauk only for the third time in first-class cricket as East Zone were bowled out for 708 by stumps on the second day.
Resuming from 385/4, East Zone continued to pile on the runs right from the outset. Desperately seeking wickets, South Zone took the new ball after delaying it for just one over. However, both Mohammad Siraj and MD Nidheesh just couldn’t find the breakthrough. Kishan got going with successive boundaries off Siraj before meting out the same treatment to Nidheesh as well.It was then Kushagra’s turn to join the party. Either side of the drinks break, the two spinners Tripurana Vijay and Shreyas Gopal were introduced into the attack but there was no respite in sight.
Kushagra moved into the nineties with a couple ofboundaries off Gopal before eventually bringing up his sixth first-class ton. Closer to the lunch break, the much-needed breakthrough finally arrived for South Zone with the centurion finding the fielder at fine leg. For Kishan however, it was business as usual despite the wicket at the other end as he continued to manipulate the field and bat with ease. With the shoulders slowly dropping, the left-hander took full toll and slammed three boundaries in a single over from Gopal. South Zone tried to break Kishan’s momentum with a couple of part-timers in Devdutt Padikkal and Shaikh Rasheed to no avail as he finally reached his double ton off 270 balls.
Once he got to his double ton, Kishan began fetching boundaries at ease to rapidly then move to 250 with South Zone now eagerly anticipating a declaration. However, despite guiding his team past the 600-run mark, Kishan was in no mood to declare. In fact, fatigue caught up with the skipper and he had to retire as a result. But the runs continued to flow with the end nowhere in sight for the bowling side.
With the total edging closer to 700, Mohammed Shami departed for 28 which brought Kishan out to the field again in his quest for a rare triple ton. However, wickets at the other end made the task a lot harder with Kishan himself finally finding the fielder near long on to fall 30 short of 300. With 708 on the board against a bunch of 11 tired men in the opposition, East Zone have one hand firmly on the trophy already.
Brief scores: East Zone 708 (Ishan Kishan 270, Kumar Kushagra 101, Shikhar Mohan 85; Tripurana Vijay 4-180) vs South Zone
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