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East have one hand on trophy after Ishan Kishan puts Duleep final beyond South Zone

Sanjeev Kumar | September 10, 2026 3:22 PM CST

East Zone batted in their second innings instead of enforcing the follow-on on South Zone to all but clinch the Duleep Trophy title.

On the penultimate day of the final in Chennai, South, resuming on 242/6 in reply to East's humongous first-innings total of 708, were all out for 336. Captain Tilak Varma departed for 99. Instead of making South follow on, East decided to bat and posted 212/5 at Stumps on Wednesday, stretching their lead to 584.

With just a day remaining, South's hopes to bounce back appear all but over.

East captain Ishan Kishan followed up his 270 in the first innings with another statement knock of 80 off 98 balls to help his team build further on the huge lead. His Jharkhand teammate, young Shikhar Mohan, fresh off his 85 in the first essay, registered another half-century (52).

The pair, as they did in the first innings, again forged a century-plus stand of 126 for the third wicket after openers Abhimanyu Easwaran and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi were dismissed with only 13 runs on the board.

After Ishan and Mohan's dismissal, another first-innings centurion Kumar Kushagra looked solid to remain unbeaten on 34 at the end of the day's play with Mohammed Kounain Qureishi on 26.

Earlier, Mukesh Kumar finished with best figures among East bowlers, taking 3/62. The Bengal pacer certainly did his part, but what also made matters easier was the pinpoint accuracy from his senior teammate Mohammed Shami (2/42 in 16 overs).

At the end of the final, captains Ishan and Tilak are set to leave for New Delhi on Thursday night to join up with the rest of the India squad for the Afghanistan T20Is beginning on Sunday.

Brief scores: East Zone 708 & 212/5 (Ishan Kishan 80, Shikhar Mohan 52). South Zone 336 (Tilak Varma 99; Mukesh Kumar 3/62, Mohammed Shami 2/42). At Stumps, Day IV.