Ishan Kishan was in his element for East Zone in the Duleep Trophy final against South Zone in Chennai on Monday. Batting at No. 5, Kishan played a true captain’s knock and scored 270 off 334 balls (30x4s, 7x6s) to help East Zone post 708 in the first innings. With his monumental knock, Kishan became only the third batter from East Zone to score a double century in the Duleep Trophy, joining Arun Lal and Saba Karim. Lal holds the highest score among the trio, having smashed 287 against West Zone in 1986, besides scoring 214 against Central Zone in the same year. Saba Karim, meanwhile, remained unbeaten on 200 against West Zone in 1995.
Ishan Kishan also became the first East Zone captain-wicketkeeper to score a double century in a Duleep Trophy final, according to an Instagram post by Star Sports India. Overall, Kishan became the seventh batter to score a double century in a Duleep Trophy final.
East Zone’s innings was opened by Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who scored 44 off 37 balls. During the match, former India player Vivek Razdan had a message for Sooryavanshi.
“Sooryavanshi sahab, now you have to learn from players like Ishan Kishan. Once you are set, you have to learn how to play a long innings,” Razdan said on commentary.
“Every person who is present here at this time stood up and applauded this innings. Because this is not just technique, this is not just temperament, this is also match fitness. To stay out there for so long in such heat and play an innings like this. What an innings by Ishan Kishan.”
Coming to Day 2 of the Duleep Trophy final, despite losing wickets in the final session, East Zone eventually posted a mammoth 708 all out in 163 overs.
Earlier, Kishan and Kushagra continued from where they had left off on the opening day. The duo added 230 runs for the fifth wicket, giving East Zone complete control after they had ended Day 1 at 385/4.
Kushagra completed his maiden Duleep Trophy century off 128 balls, hitting eight fours and five sixes. He was dismissed soon after reaching three figures, caught in the deep off Vijay after scoring 101 from 132 deliveries.
The fifth-wicket partnership between Kishan and Kushagra was the defining stand of the day, with the pair taking East Zone past 450 before Kushagra’s dismissal.
Kishan then continued to dominate alongside Anukul Roy, with East Zone reaching 500 and then 550. The left-hander brought up his double century before eventually retiring hurt on 250, with East Zone on 611/5.
Anukul Roy contributed a useful 45 before being trapped leg before wicket following a review by South Zone. Mohammed Shami then added 28 before being dismissed by Shreyas Gopal.
Despite losing wickets in the final session, East Zone continued to pile up runs and moved past 700, leaving South Zone’s bowlers with a difficult task.
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