Duleep Trophy Final: Mohammed Shami turns the screw as South Zone stumble at 242/6, trail by 466 at stumps on Day 3

Mohammed Shami of East Zone (PTI Photo) South Zone’s hopes of challenging in the Duleep Trophy final took another hit on Tuesday as veteran pacer Mohammad Shami produced two crucial breakthroughs to leave them struggling at 242 for six at stumps on Day 3 against East Zone.Captain Tilak Varma remained unbeaten on 56 off 133 balls along with CV Milind, but the South Zone still face a daunting deficit of 466 runs after East amassed a mammoth 708 in their first innings. With four wickets remaining, South have a huge task ahead of them to avoid relegation, let alone stay in the title race.

Shami’s short spells make the difference

Shami was used in short bursts throughout the day, but every spell counted. The 36-year-old finished with figures of 11-4-17-2 and repeatedly troubled the south zone batsmen with his accuracy and movement.On a pitch where East’s bowlers struggled to make much of an impact on the opening two days, Shami stuck to a disciplined stump-to-stump line and rarely gave the batsmen room to relax their hands.His first big breakthrough came when Shaik Rasheed looked poised alongside Devdutt Padikkal. Rasheed played 29 and the pair added 56 for the third wicket before Shami found a perfect line to catch him in front.The veteran pacer came back much later and struck again, removing Ravichandran Smaran after the batsman had put on a 45-run stand with Tilak.Shami set up the left-hander beautifully, starting with a fuller delivery on the stumps before bringing in two successive balls. The fourth delivery went away and took an outside edge to keeper Kumar Kushagra. East reviewed the decision and DRS upheld the dismissal, which was caught off guard.

Padikkal fifty goes empty

Before that, Padikkal looked the most assured batsman in the south zone. The Karnataka left-hander brought up his half-century in 65 balls after a productive tour of Sri Lanka, using his trademark composure to negotiate the Eastern attack.But his stay ended soon after when Mukesh Kumar took advantage of Padikkala’s preference for quick swing. The delivery on the pads called for a shot, but Padikkal couldn’t find the middle and holed out to substitute DP Das in the field.The wicket summed up South Zone’s day, with promising partnerships repeatedly ending just when they seemed to be building momentum.

South loses three in the middle section

South Zone started the day with some stability after losing vice-captain Ricky Bhui early as Padikkal was joined by Narayan Jagadeesan to add 60 for the second wicket.Jagadeesan looked fluent against the spinners and hit some classy boundaries, but his aggressive approach ultimately caused his downfall. Part-time spinner Shikhar Mohan, who was brought into the attack soon after Anukul Roy suffered a finger injury, popped out wide.Jagadeesan tried to cut the ball but could only fire a lofted shot which was comfortably caught by Abhimanyu Easwaran at cover. South managed only 61 runs in the second over, losing three wickets.

Tilak keeps the South in the fight

As the innings repeatedly lost steam, Tilak took on the responsibility of keeping the lower order together. The southpaw skipper registered his third consecutive score as he hit 56 off 133 balls. He and Shreyas Gopal then survived 26.4 overs and added 66 runs in the last few hours.Gopal eventually fell for 26 in the closing stages, leaving Tilak and Milind unbeaten on the stumps. The partnership offered South some late resistance, but the bigger picture remains bleak. They are 466 runs behind and still well short of the target, keeping the East Zone firmly in control heading into the fourth day.