Kishan 111* puts East Zone in control

Stumps East Zone 385 for 4 (Kishan 111*, Mohan 85, Easwaran 72, Kushagra 63*. Milind 2-56) vs South Zone

Thirteen years after they last lifted the Duleep Trophy on these very shores, East Zone took a giant stride towards reclaiming it. At stumps on the opening day of the 2026-27 final at Chepauk, they were 376 for 4, having seen all their batters barring Sudip Gharami make substantial contributions.

Two batters, in particular, stood out.

Ishan Kishan, the captain, made a statement about his commitment to red-ball cricket - the very format he had once been criticised for not showing enough desire to play, leading to him losing his central contract. And then, there was Abhimanyu Easwaran who outscored and outshone the exuberant Vaibhav Sooryavanshi during their century stand at the top.

Kishan ended unbeaten on 103 - his 10th first-class century - on a day he also crossed 4000 first-class runs. Easwaran, meanwhile, was closing in on his 28th first-class century on his 31st birthday before a mix-up with Shikhar Mohan proved costly. He was run out for 72.

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Until then, though, Easwaran had batted with the authority and fluency he is known to possess, but had rarely been able to display lately. But on a bouncy red-soil deck, he served a reminder to the national selectors about his red-ball pedigree, building on from his half-century in last week's semi-final win.

Mohan, the Jharkhand opener replacing Virat Singh in the XI, also slotted in seamlessly to make an attractive 85 at No. 3. Mohan was elegance personified, showing great balance and poise in negotiating a slightly tricky early bout against South Zone's pacers, but once in, displayed his entire range of shots, particularly against T Vijay's offspin.

Coming off a breakout debut season for Jharkhand, Mohan was poised to bring up his third first-class century when he chopped on against left-arm seamer CV Milind for 85. At this point, East were 241 for 4, with South evening a small opening. But what followed was more agony instead, as they were ground to dust.

Kishan and Kumar Kushagra put together an unbroken 144-run stand off just 26.4 overs when stumps were called. Kushagra, the fourth batter to cross fifty or more, ended unbeaten on 63, having hit four fours and five sixes, South all too happy to drag themselves off after a hard day of toil where they were woefully poor with their overrates - only 79 overs were bowled - and tactics.

Six overs in, Tilak Varma had four fielders stationed on the boundary to prevent Sooryavanshi from teeing off. And an hour in, Tilak's patience ran out as he soon indulged in some banter and sledging against Sooryavanshi that was deemed serious enough for the umpires to step in. South's tactic of bowling short post-tea too seemed devoid of any logic against two batters who kept taking them on and pocketing runs instead of backing away. This was around the time Mohammed Siraj, far from his rhythmic best and low on pace - much like he was during the Test tour of Sri Lanka - completely unravelled. He finished the day with figures of 0 for 96 in 14 overs.

Both captains got what they wanted at the toss, and Sooryavanshi shunned the big shots early on. Barring the first ball that he tried to drive through the covers, only to squeeze an inside edge into the leg side, he was largely copybook. Sooryavanshi treated the Sunday crowd soon enough to an array of delightful off-side strokes on the up - in the arc between backward point and extra cover. The spread-out fields as early as the fifth over did little to build any pressure. That the first maiden of the innings came in the 20th over told you a story.

Sooryavanshi raced to 34 off 24 without playing a shot in anger, picking Siraj for a sequence of 4, 6, 4 in his first spell to get him thinking. At the other end, Easwaran was copybook as he usually is, and drove superbly against the pacers. But the aspect of his game that stood out was his back foot play, and his manner of playing the pull shots off Siraj that were brought out repeatedly - allowing him to gallop ahead of Sooryavanshi as he brought up a fifty off just 46 balls.

Sooryavanshi was the first to be dismissed when he attempted to take on Milind's short ball, only to pick out deep midwicket. The dismissal somewhat slowed the scoring rate, and led to Easwaran's run-out when he pushed it to point and saw Mohan initially respond, only for him to turn his back.

South smelt a whiff of an opportunity when Sudip Gharami stepped out to mistime a lofted shot straight to Milind off T Vijay, the offspinner, to leave them 147 for 3. But any hopes of a comeback were firmly nipped in the bud by the Jharkhand trio of Kishan, Mohan and Kushagra.

Mohan was particularly punishing against spin, bringing up his fourth first-class century off 61 balls on Duleep Trophy debut. After his dismissal, Kushagra was subjected to a short-ball barrage which he took on post tea, the standout being the hook over fine leg for six off Siraj. Subdued until he got to a half-century off 71 balls, Kishan broke free, stepping to launch Vijay for a six off the next delivery. There on, he galloped towards a century, and then seeing East close out in a dominant position.