Chennai, September 6 (Daily Kiran) : East Zone made a powerful start in the Duleep Trophy 2026 final at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. By the end of the first day’s play, they had scored 385 runs for the loss of four wickets.
Winning the toss and opting to bat, East Zone opened strongly. Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Abhimanyu Easwaran formed a solid partnership, putting together 100 runs for the first wicket off 88 balls. Vaibhav scored 44 runs off 37 balls, including one six and five fours, before being dismissed.
Easwaran then added 33 runs with Shikhar Mohan for the second wicket, further solidifying the team’s position. He contributed 72 runs from 86 balls, hitting one six and ten fours.
The team faced its first setback at a score of 147 when Sudip Kumar was caught by Milind after scoring just six runs. Captain Ishan Kishan stepped up next, forming a crucial 94-run partnership with Shikhar Mohan for the fourth wicket, pushing the total past 200.
Shikhar scored 85 runs, featuring three sixes and nine fours, before departing. Ishan then teamed up with Kumar Kushagra for an unbeaten fifth-wicket partnership worth 144 runs, leading the team to a total of 385 runs by the end of the day. Ishan remained not out at 111 runs from 135 balls, with 15 boundaries to his name, while Kushagra contributed 63 runs, including five sixes and four fours.
From the opposing side, Chama Milind took two wickets, and Tripurana Vijay claimed one.
East Zone’s playing XI included: Abhimanyu Easwaran, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Kumar Kushagra, Sudip Kumar Gharami, Shikhar Mohan, Ishan Kishan (Captain/Wicketkeeper), Mohammad Kaunain Qureshi, Anukul Roy, Mohammad Shami, Abhijit Sarkar, and Mukesh Kumar.
South Zone’s lineup featured: Riki Bhuvi, Narayan Jagadeesan (Wicketkeeper), Devdutt Padikkal, Sheikh Rasheed, Tilak Varma (Captain), Smaran Ravichandran, Shreyas Gopal, Tripurana Vijay, Mohammad Siraj, Chama V Milind, and MD Nidish.
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