Powered by a star-studded bowling line-up that includes India internationals Mohammed Shami and Mukesh Kumar, East Zone reduced South Zone to 242/6 at stumps on Day 3 of the Duleep Trophy final in Chennai. East Zone scored 708 in the first innings, and South Zone still trail by 466 runs. During the final session, Shami was warned by on-field umpire Virender Sharma. During the 60th over, the umpires asked Shami for the ball. It appeared that the umpires were inspecting the ball, possibly to change it after Shami requested them to take note of its condition. However, the umpires warned East Zone against using excessive sweat to shine the ball.
MCC Law 41.3 pertains to ‘The match ball: changing its condition’ and prohibits players from taking any action that alters the condition of the match ball unless specifically permitted by the law. Both Shami and Mukesh took two wickets each as the Tilak Varma-led South Zone were restricted to 242/6 in their first innings and ended the day trailing by 466 runs. Devdutt Padikkal (62) and Tilak Varma (56*) scored half-centuries, but the South Zone batters will regret their dismissals, even though Tilak remains unbeaten and is the sole hope for an improbable comeback. The South batters got starts but could not convert them into big scores, unlike the East Zone batters, especially Ishan Kishan, who scored 270. East Zone wrested further control in the third session, allowing South Zone to add only 62 runs in the final session, while Md Kounain Quraishi also got Shreyas Gopal caught and bowled.
The South Zone batters showed poor shot selection, and the East Zone bowlers found some assistance even with the older ball, using reverse swing to trouble the batters. East Zone were the happier side at the end of the day, and despite Tilak remaining unbeaten, South Zone still have a mountain to climb.
