Duleep Trophy Final: Tilak Varma Misses Century as East Zone Lead

Duleep Trophy Final: South Zone were bowled out for 336 on the fourth day of the Duleep Trophy final at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, leaving East Zone firmly in control of the contest.

Captain Tilak Varma came painfully close to a century but was dismissed for 99. His innings was one of the few bright spots for South Zone, who struggled to cope with the East Zone bowling attack.

Devdutt Padikkal also contributed with a solid 62, while Chama Milind made 43 and Narayan Jagadeesan scored 32. Apart from these efforts, the South Zone batting lineup failed to put together any substantial partnerships.

East Zone had already put themselves in a commanding position by piling up 708 in their first innings. Ishan Kishan led the charge with a spectacular 270, while Kumar Kushagra added a century with 101.

The huge total left South Zone facing a difficult task from the beginning. Their response never gathered enough momentum, and regular wickets kept putting them under pressure.

Mukesh Kumar was the pick of the East Zone bowlers, taking three wickets. Mohammed Shami, MD Kounain Qureshi and Shikhar Mohan picked up two wickets each as South Zone’s innings came to an end at 336.

That gave East Zone a first innings lead of 372 runs and put them in a position to dictate how the remainder of the final unfolds.

Tilak had looked set to reach three figures after playing an important innings for South Zone, but his dismissal at 99 denied him what would have been a memorable century in the final.

With such a sizeable advantage already in hand, East Zone now face a choice over their next move. They could ask South Zone to follow on or return to the crease themselves and extend their lead before making another declaration.

The decision will depend on how East Zone assess the pitch and the amount of time remaining in the match. For now, the advantage is clearly with Ishan Kishan’s side after a dominant performance with both bat and ball.