Duleep Trophy 2026 Final: East Zone captain Ishan Kishan spearheaded another dominant day for their side as they solidified their hold in the Duleep Trophy 2026 final against South Zone at the M.A Chidamabaram Stadium or the Chepauk in Chennai. Kishan, who stayed unbeaten at the end of Day 1, went on to smash 270 to take East Zone to a humungous total of 708 in 147 overs, thereby putting South Zone to the sword.
Duleep Trophy 2026 Final: Ishan Kishan and Kumar Kushagra share marathon stand to frustrate South Zone
With Kushagra resuming on 63 after Day 1, he reached his hundred successfully, before falling for 101 off 232 deliveries, bringing an end to a 230-run stand with the skipper. At that stage, Kishan hadn’t reached his double hundred and got to the milestone with a boundary off Devdutt Paikkal’s bowling in the 122nd over of the innings.
Anukul Roy (45), Md Kounain Quraishi (40) and Mohammed Shami (28) also chipped in with crucial runs against a weary South Zone attack as East Zone took full toll. After retiring hurt on 250, Kishan walked out to bat and added another 20 runs before falling to Tripurana Vijay for a 334-ball 270 that contained 30 boundaries and seven maximums. The final ball of Day 2 saw Vijay dismiss Mukesh Kumar for a duck to wrap up South Zone’s innings at 708. In the process, South Zone managed to avoid a nervy batting period of some time on Day 2 and will resume on Day 4. Vijay was the pick of the bowlers with four wickets, while Chama Milind and Shreyas Gopal claimed two scalps each. Shaik Rasheed took the solitary wicket of Roy.
Duleep Trophy 2026 Final: What happens if the decider ends in a draw?
If the match ends in a draw, the winner gets determined by the first-innings lead. Whichever team takes the lead, will be declared winner of the coveted trophy.
In this case, South Zone must bat out of their skins to take over their opposition’s first innings total of 708. Captain Tilak Varma has a massive task, while the likes of Devdutt Padikkal, Shaik Rasheed, Ravichandran Smaran, Ricky Bhui and Narayanan Jagadeesan must also step up.
