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East Zone continued its batting dominance on the second day against South Zone in the final of Duleep Trophy 2026. Captain Ishan Kishan completely turned the match in his team's favor by scoring a brilliant double century. East Zone scored 708 runs at the loss of 10 wickets in 163 overs in the first innings, after which South Zone is now under pressure to score a huge score.

The biggest feature of this innings of East Zone was that the team batted almost completely on the first and second day of the match. Building on the score of 385/4 on the first day, the batsmen maintained the run pace on the second day and took the score beyond 700.

Ishan Kishan's bat roared, stormy innings of 270 runs

Captain Ishan Kishan converted his century into a double century on the second day of the final and even after this there was no sign of stopping. According to the available scorecard, he scored 270 runs in 334 balls. His innings included 30 fours and 7 sixes.

Ishaan not only led the team to a big score but also set a great example of captaincy innings. He started the second day with an unbeaten century on the first day and gradually converted his innings into a huge score. He registered his name in the list of select batsmen who scored a double century in the final.

This double century of Ishaan was also special because he became the first batsman to score a double century from East Zone in the Duleep Trophy final.

Kumar Kushagra also scored a century

Apart from Ishan Kishan, Kumar Kushagra also played a big innings for East Zone. According to the scorecard, Kushagra scored 101 runs on 132 balls. His innings included 8 fours and 5 sixes.

The partnership of Ishaan and Kushagra increased the problems of the South Zone bowlers. Both of them scored runs rapidly and took East Zone beyond 500 and then 600 runs. On the first day too, Kushagra had given good support to Ishaan with an unbeaten half-century.

Abhimanyu, Shikhar and Vaibhav also contributed

East Zone's huge innings was not limited to just Ishan Kishan's double century. Abhimanyu Easwaran scored 72 runs in 86 balls, while Shikhar Mohan played a useful inning of 85 runs in 120 balls. Shikhar's innings included 9 fours and 3 sixes.

Young batsman Vaibhav Suryavanshi was also the center of attraction. He scored 44 runs in 37 balls, which included 5 fours and a six. Special enthusiasm was seen among the spectators to see Vaibhav at Chepauk ground in Chennai.

Apart from this, Anukul Roy scored 45 runs on 98 balls and Mohammad Kounen Qureshi scored 40 runs on 91 balls. Mohammed Shami also contributed 28 runs on 51 balls.

South Zone bowlers were severely tested

The South Zone bowlers were seen struggling against the East Zone batsmen on the second day as well. According to the scorecard, Tripurana Vijay took 4 wickets for 180 runs in 42 overs, while Shreyas Gopal took 2 wickets for 165 runs in 42 overs.

But despite such a long spell, the run flow of East Zone could not be completely curbed. Big innings from captain Ishan Kishan and Kumar Kushagra kept the South Zone bowling attack under pressure.

East Zone declared the innings at 708 runs.

East Zone eventually posted a massive score of 708/10 in 163 overs. The team's run rate was 4.34. This score has now become a big challenge for South Zone.

While on the first day East Zone had established its dominance with 385/4, on the second day the team did not let the pace of scoring slow down despite losing the remaining wickets.

Now pressure on South Zone, big expectations from bowlers

After scoring a huge score of 708 runs, now East Zone will focus on the South Zone batsmen. In front of such a big target, South Zone will have to bat long and strong to make a comeback in the match.

This final has been great for East Zone so far. Captain Ishan Kishan's marathon inning of 270 runs, Kumar Kushagra's century and important contributions from other batsmen have put the team in a position where its claim towards the title looks very strong.

The second day's play was in the name of East Zone and the score of 708 runs has become a target like a mountain for South Zone. Now the direction of the match will largely depend on how the South Zone batsmen cope with this pressure.