Chennai: Ishan Kishan battled humid conditions to construct a monumental 270, reminding the selectors of his red-ball credentials and propelling East Zone to a mammoth 708 on the second day of the Duleep Trophy final against South Zone Monday.
Kumar Kushagra too struck his sixth first-class hundred (101, 132b), a shining support act for Kishan’s epic, spanning 522 minutes and 334 balls across nearly two days.
South Zone will start fresh on the third day after plucking the final East Zone wicket in the closing minutes of the day.
But the most compelling story of the day was of Kishan, whose effort came in the presence of three national selectors.
Unfortunately, he could not join an elite club of batters who have scored triple hundreds in Duleep Trophy — Raman Lamba (1987) and Gagan Khoda (2001), but that would not take any sheen out of his knock.
There was something very Virender Sehwag-esque in his innings – the dazzling warmth, the effortless yet brutal acceleration and the innate canniness not to squander the benevolence of conditions.
Kishan’s first 100, which came on the opening day, arrived in 122 balls but he took 148 balls for the second hundred.
The slowdown was not forced by an exceptional spell or a tough pitch but a more deliberate attempt to wear down the bowlers, and to give his side the best chance to put on board a total much beyond the opponents’ reach.
The second first-class double hundred of his career came in 270 balls, when he drilled part-time spinner Devdutt Padikkal for a boundary through the covers.
The only time he looked in discomfort was when left-arm pacer CV Milind managed to ping on his abdomen, which needed a quick medical attention.
But the self-imposed lid on his batting came soon after going past the double century.
He raced to 200 to 250 in just 31 balls. Spinners Shreyas Gopal and Tripurana Vijay suffered most in this Easterly Jet Stream, getting carted for two sixes each.
Kishan blasted 94 runs off 100 balls off Shreyas while Vijay leaked 70 runs off 88 balls, underlining the left-hander’s domination over spinners.
As it was on the first day, pulls and drives remained his core run-making shots as 22 fours were made off them.
For the second day in succession, the South bowlers, particularly lead pacer Mohammad Siraj, failed to make any impression, blunted by a placid pitch and batting of rare calibre.
Eventually, the exhaustion gripped his body and Kishan had to walk off on 250 made off 301 balls with 27 fours and seven sixes.
The whole Kishan show helped East Zone pile 106 runs in the first session and 135 runs in the segment after lunch.
By that time, Kishan had milked 230 runs with Kushagra for the fifth wicket in just 290 balls and 140 with Anukul Roy (40, 86b) for the sixth wicket, further alienating South Zone from the match.
Kushagra too was quite impressive in his own right, flaying the bowlers on either side of the wicket in a show of fluent batsmanship.
The 21-year-old compiled his hundred in 128 balls with eight fours and five sixes, but could not extend his innings.
The right-hander’s rather casual pull off a dirty half-tracker from Vijay ended in the hands of Milind behind square leg.
But Kishan returned to haunt South soon after Mohammad Shami was dismissed in the early minutes of the final session, placing himself close to a maiden triple hundred.
However, the big moment never arrived as Kishan blasted Vijay (4/180) straight into the hands of Ravichandran Smaran near the sight screen.
