The team-sheet questions were settled on the eve of the match, and East Zone made the most of winning the toss. Captain Ishan Kishan chose to bat first at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai and finished day one of the Duleep Trophy final unbeaten on 111 off 135 balls, as East Zone closed on 385 for 4 in 79 overs against South Zone.
Kishan brought up his hundred off 122 balls, driving a tossed-up delivery from Shreyas Gopal down the ground past mid-off for four. It is his 10th first-class century and his first hundred of this year's Duleep Trophy, struck with 14 fours and a six in an innings that anchored the whole day's batting for East Zone. He was still there at stumps, unbeaten and building toward a bigger score on day two.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, fresh off being confirmed to play despite his India T20I commitments, made 44 off 37 balls with five fours and a six before he was dismissed by a bouncer from South Zone's Chama V Milind. It was a quick, attacking innings rather than a long one, but it gave East Zone's innings early momentum before the middle order took over.
East Zone's total was built on contributions through the order rather than Kishan's century alone. Shikhar Mohan made 85, dismissed by Milind on the stroke of tea with the score at 246 for 4, and Abhimanyu Easwaran added 72 before being run out. Kumar Kushagra joined Kishan late in the day and was unbeaten on 63 off 75 balls, with four fours and five sixes, sharing an unbroken stand that took East Zone past 380 by the close.
South Zone's bowling had little to show for a long day on a flat Chennai surface. Chama V Milind was the most successful with figures of 2 for 56 off 13 overs, while Tripurana Vijay went wicketless-adjacent at 1 for 114 off 22 overs. Mohammed Siraj, one of the senior reinforcements added to South Zone's squad for the final, went for 8 runs without taking a wicket in his opening spell, and part-timer Shaik Rasheed bowled a single over for 3 runs. With Vidwath Kaverappa — the standout bowler of South Zone's semi-final win, who took five wickets across that match — left out of the final XI without an explanation given at the toss, South Zone's attack was already a bowler light against a batting line-up that made them pay.
East Zone also went in without Shahbaz Ahmed, who did not pass a fitness test, while South Zone's XI reflects KL Rahul's late withdrawal alongside Kaverappa's omission. Between both sides, that is three changes from the squads named earlier in the week — a reminder that even a showpiece first-class final this late in the season is still shaped as much by fitness calls as by form.
Analysis: 385 for 4 with Kishan not out and recognised batting still to come is already a strong position, and South Zone's attack — without Kaverappa and with Siraj still wicketless — has offered little sign of a way back into the game through 79 overs. The bigger question for South Zone now is less about bowling out East Zone cheaply than about how much time is left in a five-day final to build a competitive response of their own once they do get to bat, especially with the same attack short a front-line seamer for the rest of the match.
The Duleep Trophy final runs through September 10 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. Track ball-by-ball updates on SportGod's live matches page, revisit how the squads were finalised in our pre-match report, and build fantasy lineups in SportGod's free contests.
Scorecard figures, dismissals and bowling analyses from day one are verified against same-day match reports and live scoring from Chennai, current as of September 6, 2026.
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