Ishan Kishan and South Zone skipper Tilak Varma underlined their red ball chops with 99 and 80 respectively, but former’s half-century has more contextual value as it placed East Zone firmly on course for a Duleep Trophy triumph on the fourth day of the final in Chennai on Wednesday. Tilak’s 211-ball knock lifted South to 336 all out in their first innings but still remained 372 runs adrift of East’s first dig total of 708. In their second innings, East moved to 212 for five at close, for an overall lead of 584 runs. Kumar Kushagra (34) and Kounain Quraishi (26) were batting at close and have raised 52 runs for the unbroken sixth wicket.
But the 20-minute break seemed to have affected Kishan’s rhythm as he soon got out, lofting pacer MD Nidheesh to Devdutt Padikkal inside the leg-side circle. His innings helped South, overnight 242 for six, to go past the 300-run mark, but the left-hander will rue missing a second consecutive ton after making one in the semifinal last week at Bengaluru. But those team numbers now carry a mere academic significance as East already have their hands around this season’s Duleep Trophy, courtesy that irreversibly massive first-innings lead. However, those were tiny glittering nuggets without making any significant alteration to the match’s course.
