A five-day First Class match in India — usually reserved for knockout fixtures — is designed to give teams a chance to push for an outright result. 

At the same time, it tends to produce oddities because the focus is on securing the first-innings lead, which is enough to claim victory. Once that is achieved, the contest often fizzles out. Yet the teams still have to go through the motions until at least Tea on the final day, even if the outcome is a foregone conclusion.

The 2026 Duleep Trophy final between South Zone and East Zone in all likelihood will go down in history as one such game after the latter secured the crucial first-innings lead on the fourth day at the MAC Stadium here.

South, resuming at 242 for six in pursuit of East’s massive 708, was bundled out for 336 at lunch on Wednesday.

Realistically, South’s best hope was to delay the inevitable, and that relied on Tilak Varma getting a big one. For the first two hours of the penultimate day, the left-hander did just that, positively countering Mohammed Shami and Mukesh Kumar’s burst with the second new ball.

C.V. Milind supported his captain, with the duo adding 78 for the seventh wicket. But once Shikhar Mohan had Milind caught at short-leg, the end was near.

Tilak, in a rush to get to his landmark, fell agonisingly short by one run while trying to push for a single, only to give a simple return catch to off-spinner Kounain Quraishi.

Despite a 372-run lead, Ishan Kishan opted to bat the opposition out of the game and, at stumps, East was 212 for five in its second innings, ahead by 584 runs.

Though the contest was virtually sealed, a healthy crowd had gathered in the hope of seeing Vaibhav Sooryavanshi put on a show. The southpaw, though, perished early, stumped while attempting to charge down off-spinner T. Vijay.

Kishan — who smashed 270 in the first essay — continued from where he left off, stroking his way to a flamboyant 80 (98b, 9×4, 3×6). He was severe on spinners Vijay and Shreyas Gopal, repeatedly stepping down at every opportunity and carting them all over the park to entertain the fans.

The scores: East Zone — 1st innings: 708 in 163 overs.

South Zone — 1st innings: Ricky Bhui c Kushagra b Mukesh 1, N. Jagadeesan c Abhimanyu b Shikhar 32, Devdutt Padikkal c sub (Denish) b Mukesh 62, Shaik Rasheed lbw b Shami 27, Tilak Varma c & b Quraishi 99, R. Smaran c Kushagra b Shami 23, Shreyas Gopal c & b Quraishi 26, C.V. Milind c Gharami b Shikhar 43, T. Vijay run out 1, Mohammed Siraj lbw b Mukesh 1, M.D. Nidheesh (not out) 0; Extras (b-10, lb-4, nb-4, w-3): 21; Total (in 107.3 overs): 336.

Fall of wickets: 1-10, 2-70, 3-126, 4-129, 5-174, 6-240, 7-318, 8-322, 9-336.

East Zone bowling: Shami 16-5-42-2, Mukesh 19-1-62-3, Quraishi 39.3-8-99-2, Abhijit 8-0-34-0, Shikhar 20-0-67-2, Sooryavanshi 4-0-10-0, Kishan 1-0-8-0.

East Zone — 2nd innings: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi st. Jagadeesan b Vijay 8, Abhimanyu Easwaran c Padikkal b Siraj 3, Shikhar Mohan lbw b Rasheed 52, Ishan Kishan c Padikkal b Nidheesh 80, Kumar Kushagra (batting) 34, Sudip Kumar Gharami run out 2, Md Kounain Quraishi (batting) 26; Extras: (b-7): 7; Total (for five wkts. in 51 overs): 212.

Fall of wickets: 1-13, 2-13, 3-139, 4-154, 5-160.

South Zone bowling: Siraj 7-2-17-1, Vijay 17-1-84-1, Shreyas 12-1-57-0, Nidheesh 5-1-14-1, Rasheed 7-1-20-1, Bhui 3-0-13-0.

Published – September 09, 2026 06:32 pm IST

Control: Mukesh refrained from going too full and wide.
| Photo Credit: R. RAGU

Second nature: Kishan kept busy without trying to be aggressive.
| Photo Credit: R. RAGU

The surname Tillakaratne carries considerable weight in Sri Lankan cricket. It evokes memories of Hashan Tillakaratne’s dependability, Tillakaratne Dilshan’s innovation, World Cup triumphs, and decades of service to the national side.

Now, another Tillakaratne is trying to earn that name on merit. Seventeen-year-old Limansa Tillakaratne, Dilshan’s daughter, is touring India with Sri Lanka’s Under-19 women’s side for three T20s and three One-Day fixtures, in preparation for the U-19 Women’s World Cup, which Bangladesh and Nepal will jointly host in early 2027.

ALSO READ: Limansa, daughter of Sri Lanka icon Tillakaratne Dilshan, carries his name and legacy with pride

She hopes to become the latest member of a cricketing lineage while carving out an identity that is distinctly her own.

It’s been a steep learning curve for the outfit in Chennai, with Limansa herself, a leg-spinner, proving expensive with the ball and registering three ducks in the middle order.

Sri Lanka gave a better account of itself in the second game, bringing the margin of defeat down from 93 runs in the first match to 11 in the second, with an improved effort in the field. Limansa even struck timber as she sent back the dangerous Ira Jadhav. India won the third fixture by seven wickets to take the series, with Sri Lanka’s batting weaknesses costing the side.

Catching the action

Following his daughter’s run carefully, about 600 kilometres away in Hyderabad, is her father, Dilshan, currently with TG20 franchise Khammam Aces for the inaugural edition of the league. Long distance defines this father-daughter relationship.

“When I started cricket, he was actually not in Australia (where the family moved to after his retirement in 2016). I think he was in India and I was playing locally, just for fun. I was bowling, and the ball was looping. I didn’t have a clue about cricket then.

“My mom (Lankan actor Manjula Thilini) said if I enjoyed it, I should keep at it, and she’d send video clips of me playing. One day, he saw something he liked and thought there was talent there work with. That’s how I started playing,” Limmy, as she is fondly called, told The Hindu after her game at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

Memories of those early videos draw out a chuckle from Dilshan.

“Limmy began playing at home in the garden. She’d normally hit tennis balls. I didn’t take it so seriously then. I wanted my son to play. After my retirement in 2016, we moved to Australia as a family. I continued playing Legends League and was travelling and my wife would tell me about Limmy’s thing with cricket. She was very keen. During break time in school, she’d play with the boys. One of the teachers picked up on that and took her and my wife to a local club where she signed up and started training. My wife then sent me the videos,” Dilshan told this publication.

“I still have those early videos and still have a good laugh when I revisit them. She bowled all the wrong lengths, used the wrong arm. The ball would bounce thrice. But she was so keen. She’d wake up early to watch matches regardless of her schedule. It was evident she wanted to do something in the game. So, we decided to work hard on that for one year. Every day, two to three hours after school, we worked on her game,” the 49-year-old added.

The youngest

The results then trickled in. In 2021, Limmy, aged 12, became the youngest female cricketer to play at the premier level when she made the U-16 squad for Cricket Victoria.

She then broke into the U-19 Victoria side and played regularly for Melbourne Cricket Club. Dilshan even fondly remembers a century she scored for Victoria. But then, the family patriarch threw his eldest a googly.

“We decided to take her to Sri Lanka. I took her to my club, Bloomfield (Cricket and Athletic Club) in Colombo. We spent time working on her bowling. We tried her out in the U-19 provincial side, where she did really well. Selectors then wanted to pick her, and she made the team for the inaugural U-19 Asia Cup in 2024 and the U19 World Cup in Malaysia last year,” he remembered.

Sri Lanka made the Super Six stage of the World Cup but couldn’t progress to the knockouts, finishing fifth in the final standings. But one memory stands out.

“Sri Lanka beat Australia in the Super Six match, and Limmy won the Player-of-the-Match Award,” Dilshan exclaimed, the irony not lost on him. She took a wicket, giving away just 18 runs in her four overs. She also took two catches and effected a run out in that low-scoring fixture where Sri Lanka defended a paltry 99/8 with a 12-run win.

She eventually finished that tournament with seven wickets, the second-highest wicket-taker for her side behind left-arm spinner Chamodi Praboda’s nine scalps.

Obvious choice

For a young bowler, leg-spin isn’t an obvious choice of speciality.

“She always bowled the googly, and it came naturally for her,” Dilshan, a handy offie himself, explained.

“I thought, developing it into leg-spin would be more advantageous for her, and for any side she might be a part of. It took us a year,” he added, saying small but smart interventions as a coach are needed early on in a player’s trajectory to maximise their success as a cricketer.

“In my bowling, I’m trying to work on my speed. I am trying to bowl flatter and get the ball to turn more,” Limmy explained.

With Dilshan as coach, the conversation turned to batting soon enough. She started lower down the order but soon began opening for her side and then moved into the middle order, especially in 50-over games. Ask her about what tricks her dad has shared with her in the nets, and she asks, “You’re talking about the Dilscoop, right?”

“We’ve been practising it. I practised it first with my dad, and I tried a few in the nets, and it came out really well. I’m just waiting for the right ball in the middle to play it,” she added cheekily.

Country first

Cricketing migrations to Australia are the norm, not away from it. For the women’s game, Australian systems have been the holy grail, led by a senior women’s side that is head and shoulders above its competition. But for Dilshan, that Sri Lankan crest he had worn on his chest for nearly two decades meant more.

“As a Sri Lankan captain, I’m happy for my daughter to play for Sri Lanka. Yes, we live in Australia. Every facility is there. The pathways are very good, and there is no difference between boys and girls. But as a Sri Lankan, I do want her to play for Sri Lanka,” Dilshan stated.

His wife was unsure about the move. But Limmy immediately got on board.

“I remember the first day she had a trial. We landed in Colombo at 11.30 or 12 o’clock at night. It was 2 am by the time we got home. She had a game the next morning. She played, took four wickets, and scored fifty-odd. On the way back home, she threw up while on the road. The time difference and the strain of it were a bit much. But she was ready. She always delivers what I ask of her. There’s no complaining or saying she’s tired,” Dilshan proudly declared.

When performances didn’t go her way, Dilshan and Limmy were out late to hit the nets.

“Even if she’s come back late from a game, if she hasn’t performed well, she’ll say, ‘ Thaathi (Sinhalese term for father), let’s go to the nets.’ That could be at 10 pm. I would have to book indoor nets, and we’d go and train for an hour.

“You can see the change in where her mum is now. She was unsure before, but she’s so happy with how Limmy has come along,” he added.

For Limmy, it is also an opportunity to carry on her father’s legacy.

“I’m actually really proud to be his daughter and to start a career, not because of him, but inspired by him really, and I’m really happy that I have this figure behind me, supporting me and always there for me whenever I need him.”

Try and be better than me

When she made the national U-19 side, Limmy distinctly remembers Dilshan saying, “You’re following in my footsteps. You have to be better than me. Try and be better than me!”

A day after The Hindu caught up with Limmy, Dilshan looks at her laughing on video as she brushes off the pressure those lines come with and can’t help but smile.

“She’s totally different from me. She’s a leg spinner, I’m an off spinner. I’m right-handed, she’s left-handed. My only message to her has always been that she needs to be a good cricketer in all three departments. When she started playing, she was a very poor fielder. As her father and one of the best fielders in the world, I was a bit disappointed when she would drop catches. We set a target for that too. I heard she was good in one of these games and put in some good stops in the field.”

For Limmy, Thaathi is the north star. Coaches at different levels may give her countless tips, but nothing happens without her father hearing about it and giving his thoughts on its validity. That means the cricketer and coach in Dilshan is always on, but it’s a relationship bedrock he has come to savour.

“I am quite happy that Limansa listens to me. Even when coaches try to change something, she will bring it to me first. I always encourage trying everything. If it doesn’t work, go back to your basics!”

Huge relief

As a father, seeing systems emerge for his daughter to discover her cricketing sensibilities within is a huge relief for Dilshan.

What Limmy can only learn from someone like her father, which is perhaps most important, is managing expectations.

“I’ve told her that sometimes she might get dropped, even if her performances are okay. It’s happened to me too. In 2008, I was benched. I went back to domestic cricket, scored heavily, and won games, but still didn’t get highlighted enough to make it back. I was batting at No.6 or 7. I then pitched myself as an opener to the management. I knew Sanath (Jayasuriya) was retiring in the 2009 season, and that space was there to take. I went back to the domestic scene and scored heavily, batting till the 25th and 26th over.”

“In 2008-09, I got an opportunity to play as an opener, that too in the squad, not the eleven, when we toured Pakistan (now infamous for the attack on the Lankan player bus in Lahore). I piled up runs, got 140-odd, and even won Player of the Series. But I got that chance because Upul Tharanga pulled something just before the toss in the opening game. That opening slot was mine thereafter till I retired. I took risks, but they worked. I always tell Limmy that sometimes, as cricketers, we have to take risks. She knows disappointments, drops will come and understands they are part of the package.”

In the middle of a crucial school year, the Tillakaratne household has allowed her to put schoolwork on hold as she prepares to make the team for the U-19 World Cup once more.

Assignments are being sent from wherever she’s playing in the meantime. The big questions are a headache for after January and Limmy is happy to just focus on being on a cricket field full-time.

Watch: Ravichandran Ashwin interview: On his book, an ode to Chennai gully cricket, and why 3 Idiots was a turning point

Ravichandran Ashwin has just hit a pull shot and the ball has landed in a temple next door. On the streets of Ramakrishnapuram in Chennai’s West Mambalam, street cricket came alive between four and six every evening. In the Nineties and early-2000s a young Ashwin would be at the centre of all the sporting action.

After a hectic day at school, it was the sight of a bat and ball and his ‘area’ friends that would bring Ashwin utmost joy. Some days, he would be a hero, scoring lots of runs. On others, he would have to beg for gaaji, a word popular in Tamil Nadu to describe ‘batting’. And on still other days, he would have to face the stern uncle next door, chiding him for breaking the window glass with a monstrous six.

But every day, Ashwin would go to bed dreaming of the events that unfolded in the evening and look forward to more drama and action the next day.

Today, he is considered India’s top off-spinner, has a whopping 500 Test wickets to his name and a proven track record in all formats; yet, the allure of the West Mambalam streets still holds sway. “I would trade anything to go back. The joys of being on those lanes, fighting for those 2-3 runs and the ball going into the well… all these are great stories,” he says, at Taj Coromandel, on the sidelines of his recent book launch.

Ashwin has several such stories to share in the book, I Have the Streets: A Kutty Cricket Story (published by Penguin Random House India), in which he, along with cricket writer Siddharth Monga, paints a candid picture of his days before professional cricket and the little joys in the cricket-mad streets of Chennai. “Writing this gave me several goosebump moments. Today, people don’t play cricket on the streets as much as before. I just feel that after reading this, if someone wishes to be out there in the evenings playing cricket, I would have achieved what I set out to.”

Write approach

The seed of I Have the Streets was planted in Ashwin’s head as he sifted through many novels – he is a fan of Clive Cussler, Chetan Bhagat and has read all the Ponniyin Selvan books – and also binged on the autobiographies of Australian cricketers Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting. “Reading Ponting’s book, it took me to his household in Launceston, Tasmania. When I read it, I was like, ‘Hey, this is what my life looked like.’ With my book, I wanted to be very organic and real.”

And so, I Have the Streets, apart from being an ode to the Madras of yore,also gives a peek into Ashwin’s middle-class Tamil household. His parents and grandfather, all instrumental in him taking to the game, form pivotal characters, as do his friends. It also takes us into his days at Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan school, where he met his wife Prithi for the first time. “The book also shows me having self-doubts and being vulnerable, but that’s what makes it real. A lot of people want to paint themselves perfectly, and I’m not perfect.”

A ticket to happiness

Ashwin is a huge fan of films and makes references to cinema in all his content, be it on YouTube or his book. “I’ve learnt a lot of life through movies. If I watch Ghilli, I would like to understand the friendship surrounding actor Vijay and his household rather than me going to Madurai and doing those fights. I resonate with that.”

He describes watching Aamir Khan’s 3 Idiots as a turning point in his career. “I saw that movie at the right stage of my life, and it gave me the stamp to say that I am probably on the right path. I was so excited when it was remade in Tamil with Vijay, because I’m a huge of the actor as he has multiple abilities of dancing, action and a comic touch.”

Spirit of the game

Ashwin is widely considered a ‘thinking, competitive cricketer’ in the international sporting community now, but he stresses that it has always been that way.

Ravichandran Ashwin at his book launch
| Photo Credit:
VEDHAN M

“The game was an avenue for me to compete. Even now, I’m every bit the same gully cricketer who played on the streets of Ramakrishnapuram. It’s the same fight I have in me.” Ashwin even brings a reference to ‘Mankading’, a style of dismissal that involves the non-striking batter backing up. “In the book, I recall running out my friend, Bhuvanesh at the non-striker’s end, in street cricket. Many years later, I ran out Jos Butler in an IPL game. It really doesn’t matter to me, because for me, Bhuvanesh is more precious to me than Butler will ever be. The fact that we could go hang out at a soup shop that very evening and have a great time is what makes gully cricket special.”

Ashwin is looking to be actively engaged with the game in the future too. Next month, he will play for the Dindigul Dragons in the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL). He is also busy shooting content for his popular YouTube channel, which is a delight for anyone interested in Chennai’s two primary loves, cricket and cinema. He will also soon come out with a part two of I Have The Streets as well, and also plans to host a cricket quiz sometime soon.

And, when time permits, Ashwin hopes to hit the streets of West Mambalam and Somasundaram Ground in T Nagar yet again, to play street cricket. “I want to do something called the ‘motta maadi cricket’ (terrace cricket), just like ‘motta maadi music’, a popular music concept. I want to bring back the joys of playing cricket in the terraces.” Chennai, are you ready?