East Zone dominated South Zone on the opening day of the Duleep Trophy final with their skipper Ishan Kishan slamming an unbeaten ton.

East Zone raced away to 385-4 at stumps on day one at Chepauk of what is their first Duleep Trophy final in 14 years. Skipper Ishan Kishan was the star of the day as he smashed his 10th first-class century in his 67th game. En route, he completed 4,000 runs in first-class cricket.

Kishan remained unbeaten on 111 off 135 deliveries, with 14 fours and two sixes. With him is Kumar Kushagra (63 off 75 balls): the duo has added 144 for the fifth wicket.

Even before Kishan came out to bat, the day was headlined by Vaibhav Sooryavanshi dominating fast bowler Mohammed Siraj. The teenager took on the experienced international in the first session, smashing him for 14 runs in a single over.

Sooryavanshi and Abhimanyu Easwaran got East Zone off to a brilliant start after Kishan opted to bat. Such was their dominance that South Zone skipper Tilak Varma was forced to set a defensive field, with five fielders on the boundary, in the first hour of the day. They added 100 in 14.4 overs before Chama Milind dismissed Sooryavanshi for 44.

This was followed by a decent period for South Zone bowlers, who reduced the opposition to 147-3 by claiming Easwaran (72) and Sudip Kumar Gharami (six). South Zone would’ve hoped to gain ascendancy from this position, but Kishan took control of the proceedings.

Shikhar Mohan was set by the time he arrived. They stitched 94 for the fourth wicket to put East Zone on top once again. Just when Mohan looked set to reach his century, Milind castled him. But that was the last success of the day for South Zone as they even struggled to contain the batters in the final session.

Kushagra and Kishan slammed the red cherry to all parts of Chepauk to put East Zone in a strong position. Siraj, who was expected to strengthen South Zone’s bowling attack, had an off day as he was taken for 96 in 14 overs.

Only 79 overs were bowled in the day thanks to South Zone’s poor over rate. They received an official warning from the umpires after, at one stage, they had bowled only four overs in 24 minutes of cricket.

Image Credits: Screengrab from BCCI Domestic/X

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