East Zone solidified their dominance in the Duleep Trophy final on Day 4, ending the day with a commanding 584-run lead over South Zone. Skipper Ishan Kishan led the charge with a blistering 80, while Shikhar Mohan contributed a steady 52, putting their side in an almost unassailable position to claim the title. Kishan, who concluded the match with a total of 350 runs, narrowly missed out on a century, following a morning session where South Zone’s Tilak Varma also fell just one run short of a triple-digit score.
The morning began with South Zone attempting to mount a resistance, adding 94 runs for their final four wickets. Tilak Varma, who started the day unbeaten, found a reliable partner in CV Milind. The pair played aggressively against the new ball, with Varma hitting consecutive boundaries off Mohammed Shami and Milind finding gaps against Mukesh Kumar. However, the momentum shifted once East Zone introduced spin. The partnership was broken when Milind fell, triggering a collapse. Tripurana Vijay was run out, and Mohammad Siraj was dismissed leg-before-wicket by Mukesh Kumar. Varma’s frustration peaked shortly after when he mistimed a shot back to the bowler, ending his valiant effort at 99.
Despite holding a substantial 372-run first-innings lead, East Zone opted against enforcing the follow-on. The second innings saw a shaky start for East Zone as they lost Abhimanyu Easwaran to a catch at first slip off Siraj, followed by Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who was stumped for 8 after Tripurana Vijay adjusted his length. With the score under pressure, Kishan and Mohan focused on stabilizing the innings.
As the lead climbed past 400, the duo shifted gears. Kishan hammered Vijay for a six, while Mohan struck a boundary off Shreyas Gopal. Post-tea, Kishan accelerated further, punishing Vijay with a sequence of 4, 6, 6, 4. Although he eventually miscued a shot while attempting to break free against the bowling of Gopal and MD Nidheesh, his innings was instrumental in pushing the lead beyond 500. Following his exit, Mohan was trapped lbw by Shaikh Rasheed, and Sudip Gharami was run out. Kumar Kushagra and Md Kounain Quraishi successfully navigated the final overs, building a half-century partnership to close the day.
The brief scores stand at East Zone 708 and 212/5, with Ishan Kishan scoring 80 and Shikhar Mohan 52, while South Zone managed 336, led by Tilak Varma’s 99 and Mukesh Kumar’s 3-62. East Zone now holds a massive 584-run advantage heading into the final stages of the match. The report also notes that kishan, who finished with a match tally of 350 runs, missed his century by 20 runs after Tilak Varma missed his by a solitary run earlier in the morning session. The report also notes that in frustrating fashion, Tilak ended up missing a well-deserved century after he mistimed one back to the bowler in the following over to fall for 99. The report also notes that cV Milind showed a lot of resistance that aided the overnight unbeaten half-centurion Tilak Varma to continue in the same vein. The report also notes that at the other end, Milind got going with a neat cover drive against Mukesh Kumar. The report also notes that the boundaries just kept flowing against the brand new cherry with Milind in particular looking in great touch. The report also notes that bringing the spinners into operation, that forced a change at both ends. The report also notes that on expected lines, East Zone did not enforce the follow-on despite fetching a 372-run first innings lead.
