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

Master bowler: Shami showed that he can still make the ball talk through both conventional and reverse swing.
| Photo Credit: R. RAGU