CHENNAI: Almost fourteen years after lifting the Duleep Trophy at the same venue, Ishan Kishan led East Zone to their third title by virtue of first innings lead against South Zone at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Thursday.
After posting 708 in the first innings, East Zone secured a 372-run lead before batting again till 2 PM on Day 5 when teams shook hands to walk off the field. East Zone were 388/7 in 99.2 overs with Md Kounain Quraishi scoring an unbeaten 116. Skipper Kishan scored 270 in the first innings and 80 in the second innings and was named the player of the match.
Quraishi, who had made his first-class debut during the tournament, showcased his potential with a maiden first-class century. He got good support from Anukul Roy, who was injured in the first innings and did not bowl. Together, they added 150 runs for the seventh wicket.
Mohammed Siraj, who went wicketless in the first essay, bowled his heart out on Thursday. He kept bowling in the corridor and mixed his yorkers prudently. He troubled East batters for most part of the morning session, but was unlucky to get the edge with bounce and seam movement.
Kishan, meanwhile, was delighted with the title triumph and insisted that his team won due to teamwork. "As a group, we won this title. I think everyone was taking care of each other, which was the most important thing for me. I think I've been a good leader, but yeah, I think the journey doesn't end here, you know. You need to keep getting better in all the departments. Whether you're fielding side, there's always some mistakes happening. So we just need to rectify that and get better day by day," he said. "I think it was more about, you know, just being more calm after the break (the time when he was not out of the Indian team), being more into the game, knowing what's important, how aware you are towards the game and how you are reading the situation," Kishan added.
South Zone captain Tilak Varma was disappointed with his team's effort but said that there were a lot of lessons to be learnt. "Honestly, it is disappointing for us, but yeah, there has been a lot of learning in this game, and hopefully we'll come back stronger," he said. "If you have seen, honestly, the first day we could have done better, but they sealed the game when they scored 700. Everyone knows, like, it has been slightly tough chasing that 700. But again, credit goes to their batters, how they batted. But again, there have been a few phases we can capture, but we haven't bowled, honestly, that great," Varma, who was the player of the tournament, added.
The Hyderabad star revealed the thought process of South Zone while chasing a mammoth score. "We were just thinking to just bat on for the next three days. We have tried our best. If we have played for three days, we never know, we could have scored 700 runs; otherwise the match would have been drawn. But we have tried our best, but again credit goes to them. They have totally outplayed us," he said.
Brief scores: East Zone 708 in 163 ovs and 388/7 decl in 99.2 ovs (Shikhar Mohan 52, Ishan Kishan 80, Kumar Kushagra 46, Kounain Quraishi 116 n.o, Anukul Roy 64, MD Nidheesh 2/28, Mohammed Siraj 1/47) drew with South Zone 336 in 107.3 ovs.
