Ishan Kishan walked in with East Zone 93/3, needing another 66 runs to reach the Duleep Trophy final. Harsh Dubey was getting plenty of turn and bounce; Central Zone had sensed an opening, and the chase no longer looked straightforward.

Kishan responded by taking on the bowler who posed the biggest threat. In the 31st over, the East Zone captain reverse-swept the left-arm spinner for four before stepping down the pitch and launching him over long-on for six.

It stood out because the other batsmen had struggled against Dubey. Virat Singh had fallen trying to sweep him once too often, gloving a ball to leg slip, although replays showed the ball had struck the glove that was not holding the bat. Kumar Kushagra and Anukul Roy would soon fall to Dubey off successive deliveries.

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Kishan, though, looked comfortable. He played well off both feet, stepped out when he saw the chance to attack and backed it up with solid defence. Against Aryan Pandey, he punished a short ball, pulling it firmly to the boundary.

Even as Kishan settled in, others around him struggled. Kushagra, on 22, got a leading edge while trying to work Dubey into the leg side, whereupon Yash Rathod took the catch at silly point. The next delivery was even better. Dubey got one through Roy’s defence and onto the stumps. Suddenly, East were 124/5 and still needed 35.

Kishan’s innings was not a boundary-filled assault, but East did not need one. He finished unbeaten on 39 off 41 balls, with four fours and a six. With wickets falling around him, he kept the chase moving without allowing Dubey to take control. Late in the chase, he stepped out and drove the spinner past mid-off. While others faltered, Kishan stayed until the end.

It was a captain’s innings on a day when Kishan had already overseen the bowling performance that gave East a target of only 159. After East’s quarter-final win over North East Zone, he had summed up his role simply: “My only job is to score runs and make my team win.”

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On Tuesday, with a place in the final at stake, he did exactly that. His innings helped East to a four-wicket win over Central at BCCI’s Centre of Excellence Ground 1 in Bengaluru and a place in the final.

Central resumed Day 3 at 45/3 and found themselves in trouble. Abhijit Sarkar struck first, finding nightwatchman Aryan Pandey’s edge for Abhimanyu Easwaran to take a good catch at slip. Mohammed Shami followed in the next over, coming from around the wicket and getting one to move back into Yash Rathod, who shouldered arms and was trapped lbw for five.

Aman Mokhade and Rinku Singh briefly steadied Central with a 32-run stand. Mukesh Kumar broke it by bringing the ball back into Mokhade and trapping him lbw for 41.

Off-spinner Kounain Quraishi struck with his first ball after the drinks break, finding extra bounce and turn to have Rinku caught behind for 20. Mukesh then got one to hold its line and found Saransh Jain’s outside edge, leaving Central 97/8.

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Dubey provided the resistance Central desperately needed. He made a patient 24 from 51 balls and added 43 for the ninth wicket with Arshad Khan. Shami eventually ended the stand with an excellent one-handed return catch, reacting quickly to a toe-ended shot from Dubey.

Arshad added useful runs at the end, including a six over long-on off Shami, before Anukul Roy took the final wicket of Yash Thakur. Central were bowled out for 158, with Mukesh taking four wickets and Shami finishing with 3/56.

Slow start

East’s chase began slowly. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who had smashed 92 in the first innings, made only 16 from his first 30 balls before taking 18 from the first four deliveries of a Yash Thakur over. He went after the fifth as well but was brilliantly caught by Patidar for 40.

Dubey removed Easwaran and Virat to keep Central in the game. Spare a thought for the left-arm spinner. He had taken 4/66 in the first innings and dragged Central back into the semifinal with another excellent spell of 4/53. He found turn and bounce, bowled mostly full or on a good length and kept asking questions of East’s batsmen.

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Just as he had in the first innings, when he dismissed Sooryavanshi and Kushagra off successive deliveries, Dubey struck twice in two balls again. Kushagra’s leading edge was taken at silly point before he bowled Roy through the gate with the next delivery.

East, who had been 123/3, were suddenly 124/5. But Kishan had found a way to handle the one bowler threatening to turn the chase around. Sudip Gharami’s dismissal at 150/6 gave Central a final opening, but it came too late. Shami hit the winning runs, cutting Jain for four as East reached the target in the 40th over.

Brief Scores: Central Zone 266 and 158 all out in 50.2 overs (Aman Mokhade 41; Mukesh Kumar 4/44, Mohammed Shami 3/56) lost to East Zone 266 and 162/6 in 39.3 overs (Vaibhav Sooryavanshi 40, Ishan Kishan 39 not out; Harsh Dubey 4/53) by four wickets.

At CoE Ground 2: North Zone 195 and 256/7 in 66 overs (Sanat Sangwan 76, Ayush Doseja 52; K Saiteja 2/34, MD Nidheesh 2/47, Shreyas Gopal 2/77) lead South Zone 312 all out in 100.3 overs (Tilak Varma 116 not out) by 139 runs.