East Zone, on expected lines, edged closer to lifting the Duleep Trophy after another productive day in the final. Having already dominated proceedings on the first two days by posting 708, East Zone picked up five wickets on a surface that still looked good for batting with just the odd ball staying low. By Stumps on Day 3 in Chennai, South Zone were 242/6, still trailing by 466 runs, with Tilak Varma showing plenty of grit with an unbeaten half-century.
N Jagadeesan started off on a positive note for South Zone on the third morning, finding the boundary twice in Mukesh Kumar’s first over but Ricky Bhui squandered a great opportunity on this surface by getting out in the most frustrating fashion possible. A delivery from Mukesh came in after pitching and was heading down leg but Bhui while attempting to glance it, ended up edging the ball through to the keeper. Initially given not out, East Zone took an excellent review very early in the innings to turn the decision around.
Padikkal didn’t take long to get going though. Rich in form, the left-hander whipped one through midwicket for his first boundary of the innings and looked in control. At the other end, Jagadeesan appeared to be in good touch as well as the two batters ended up adding over 50 runs for the second wicket. Just when it appeared like it was going to be a long haul for the East Zone bowlers out in the middle, a loose shot from Jagadeesan led to his downfall. The wicket didn’t deter Padikkal as he forged another useful stand – this time with Shaik Rasheed.
Padikkal went on to bring up his fifty and Rasheed got into his groove at the other end when he hit boundaries off Shikhar Mohan and Mohammed Shami. But the veteran Shami eventually had the last laugh against the youngster post the lunch break as he got one to jag back in to trap the batter leg-before-wicket. The big blow for South Zone came after a few deliveries when the well-set Padikkal attempted a pick up shot despite having fielders stationed on the boundary. The man at deep square leg completed the catch, much to Padikkal’s frustration as he threw away a great opportunity to pile on the runs and help himself to another big score.
Another small partnership was then brewing between Tilak Varma and Smaran Ravichandran to steady a sinking ship. While the two batters managed to stay in the crease for over 100 deliveries, Shami was brought back into the attack before the Tea break and the ploy worked. Ravichandran attempted a drive and failed to connect but the keeper was convinced there was an edge and managed to convince the stand-in skipper Vaibhav Sooryavanshi to opt for a review. It turned out to be an excellent call as a feather was spotted by ultra edge, much to the astonishment of the batter.
In the final session, Tilak showcased a lot of fight and he had an able partner in Shreyas Gopal. Both batters were content batting out time, while also rotating strike with the field spread out against spin. In the process, Tilak fetched a boundary against the part-timer Ishan Kishan to bring up a 123-ball fifty. At one point, it was evident that East Zone were waiting to take the second new ball to break the partnership. But much to their delight just before stumps, Gopal hit a well-tossed delivery straight back to the bowler.
Brief scores: South Zone 242/6 (Devdutt Padikkal 62, Tilak Varma 56*; Mohammed Shami 2-11) trail East Zone 708 by 466 runs
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