East Zone finished the opening day of the Duleep Trophy final in a dominant position, reaching 385 for 4 against South Zone at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. Skipper Ishan Kishan led the way with an unbeaten 111, while Shikhar Mohan (85) and Kumar Kushagra (63*) also made valuable contributions. South Zone, despite being buoyed by the return of Test stars, struggled to make inroads on a placid surface.
Opting to bat first upon winning the toss, the highlight of the first session and the 100-run opening stand was Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s 37-ball 44. The teenage sensation broke free in the fifth over, hitting MD Nidheesh for two boundaries. He followed it up by taking on Mohammed Siraj in the following over, first slashing a boundary through point before lofting the next delivery over long-off for six. He finished the over by lifting another delivery over mid-off for four. Siraj continued to be expensive throughout the day, conceding nearly seven runs per over in the 14 overs he bowled.
Taking a leaf out of his partner’s playbook, Abhimanyu Easwaran mounted an attack too, hitting Siraj for consecutive fours in the ninth over before launching Tripurana Vijay for six in the next. Both batters continued to attack, with Easwaran bringing up his fifty just after the drinks break. The entertaining opening stand came to an end in the 15th over when Chama Milind managed to bounce Sooryavanshi out.
After a brief 33-run stand, South Zone got a lucky break with a mix-up between the batters leading to Easwaran getting run-out in the 25th over. Resuming on 133 for 2 after Lunch, East Zone lost Sudip Kumar Gharami just four overs into the session. The contest was then evenly poised before Ishan Kishan and Shikhar Mohan stitched a 94-run partnership. Mohan smashed a six and two fours off Vijay in the 35th over and reached his fifty two overs later. He then struck two sixes off Shreyas Gopal in the 48th over but fell 15 runs short of his century after chopping on in the 53rd over.
While South Zone had managed to fight back towards the back end of the first two sessions, East Zone offered them no such opportunity in the final session. Kishan and Kumar Kushagra dominated and shared an unbeaten 144-run stand as South Zone’s bowlers began to tire with every passing over. While there was turn on occasion, both batters looked extremely solid and comfortable at the crease. Kishan reached his century with a boundary off Gopal in the 77th over before Stumps were drawn two overs later.
Brief Scores: East Zone 385/4 (Ishan Kishan 111*, Shikhar Mohan 85; Chama Milind 2-56) vs South Zone.
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