Tilak fights but Shami and Mukesh help East Zone strengthen hold over South Zone

Shami and Mukesh picked up two wickets apiece as South Zone ended day three six down and still trailing East Zone by 466 runs

South Zone 242 for 6 (Padikkal 62, Tilak 56*, Shami 2-17, Mukesh 2-36) trail East Zone 708 (Kishan 270, Kushagra 101, Vijay 4-180) by 466 runs

On a placid Chepauk surface offering little to no assistance to the bowlers, Mohammed Shami sent the loudest message yet: he isn't ready to throw in the towel, even if it may have been more than three years since he last played a Test. And that meant East Zone took giant strides towards clinching the 2025-26 Duleep Trophy against South Zone.

Shami bowled three sharp spells in all, totalling 11 overs. Across these, he took 2 for 17, with all the elements that have made him a threat in evidence. His seam position was immaculate with the new ball prior to lunch. In the middle session, he got it to reverse the way he liked, and eventually nipped out a massive strike by straightening them off the seam.

The reverse swing felled the rock-solid Shaikh Rasheed on 21, while R Smaran was out nicking behind trying to negotiate Shami's around-the-wicket threat - a wicket that came off a belated review from East with one second on the clock after the appeal was turned down. Shami got the breakthrough largely due to stand-in captain Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who brought his frontline seamer back on for a sharp spell just prior to tea.

Then, Sooryavanshi rustled through his own over to ensure Shami had one more over with the time ticking away. That eventually brought them the massive wicket of Smaran, the 23-year-old left-hander from Karnataka who made 950 runs in the 2025-26 Ranji season.

Shami largely operated in the mid-130s, but with immense skill and control, fully knowing he may not get much off the deck. His fast-bowling partner, Mukesh Kumar, was equally impressive at the other end, but was unlucky not to have a third wicket soon after the tea interval, with Sooryavanshi putting down a sitter off the only opportunity that flew to slip all day.

Shreyas Gopal, the man reprieved, then batted solidly for much of the final hour before chipping a return catch to offspinner Kounain Quraishi with two minutes left on the clock. After toiling away in the final session, East had some reward. They'd broken a 66-run stand between Shreyas and Tilak Varma, thereby ensuring the pair wouldn't replicate their heroics from the semi-final where their 175-run partnership had bailed South out.Devdutt Padikkal scored a half-century•Vedhan M

Tilak stood tall amid the clutch of wickets, playing on the bowler's patience and grinding them down. At one point, he was guilty of not putting even the bad balls away. Tilak largely played copybook cricket, ensuring he got outside the line of the stumps while negating the spinners to take the lbw out of the equation.

Against Shami and Mukesh, he was right behind the line and displayed immaculate technique to negate their threat as they kept attacking the stumps in search of the lbw. Tilak faced 133 balls for his unbeaten 56 - at no stage was he remotely troubled by anything East threw at him.

The day began with Ricky Bhui strangled down leg off Mukesh. Devdutt Padikkal then set himself in for the long haul, carrying on from a breakthrough Sri Lanka tour. He was slightly tentative again spin early on, playing back a couple of times to full deliveries and getting into a tangle. N Jagadeesan also looked solid for much of his stay until a loose cut shot led to his dismissal.

Padikkal reached his half-century with a delightful square drive off 65 deliveries and showed exceptional defence against Shami as he looked for some reverse after being brought in just prior to lunch. Rasheed outscored Padikkal marginally during their half-century stand before being trapped lbw by Shami. Two overs later, Padikkal's uppish flick to deep square leg had him walk off in bitter disappointment. It was as if he didn't remember seeing a fielder stationed for that stroke.

Without Anukul Roy available to bowl due to a finger injury, Shikhar Mohan filled in with great effect. But the day was largely about Shami and Mukesh, and how they kept bounding in, thereby showing the selectors there's still plenty of fire left while also ensuring East had one hand on the trophy.