South Zone 304/6 in 93.0 Overs | Duleep Trophy Final Live Score: Tilak Varma, Chama V Milind lead South Zone vs East Zone battle

Duleep Trophy Final Live Score: Seasoned pacer Mohammad Shami produced decisive spells as East Zone edged closer to the Duleep Trophy title, restricting South Zone to 242 for six on the third day of the final in Chennai on Tuesday.

Skipper Tilak Varma was unbeaten on 56 off 133 balls while CV Milind was yet to score at the stumps. Still trailing by 466 runs after East posted a massive 708, South Zone have a huge task ahead of them to salvage the match.

Shami bowled three short spells during the day — 3-2-1-0, 4-1-10-1 and 4-1-6-1 — to finish with figures of 11-4-17-2.

While the numbers may not look anything special, Shami once again showed his control and ability to step up when it mattered. The 36-year-old bowled a solid stump-to-stump line and rarely gave the batsmen room to play.

Shaik Rasheed and Devdutt Padikkal put on 56 runs for the third wicket and looked comfortable. But Shami broke the partnership by trapping Rasheed leg in front of the wicket with a delivery that moved just enough to beat his forward defence.

Shami returned 20 overs later and struck again. He was brought back into the attack by Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who wore the captain’s armband for a while in Ishan Kishan’s absence.

Shami removed Ravichandran Smaran who added 45 runs with Tilak. He set the left-hander with a fuller delivery on the stumps before dispatching two deliveries that came into him.

The fourth delivery went away and Smaran edged the wicketkeeper Kumar Kushagra. Sooryavanshi asked for a DRS review and the TV umpire upheld the decision withheld in the background.

The South is trying to build a partnership

The south zone innings followed a similar pattern throughout the day, with partnerships ending just as they appeared to be growing.

After vice-captain Ricky Bhui got past Mukesh with Kushagra early on, Narayan Jagadeesan joined Padikkal and helped him add 60 runs for the second wicket.

Jagadeesan looked fluid and hit some eye-catching boundaries against the spinners. But his desire to drive eventually led to his dismissal.

Part-time spinner Shikhar Mohan was brought into the attack soon after Anukul Roy suffered a finger injury. Mohan bowled one around the sixth stump line and Jagadeesan tried to hit another boundary.

However, his lofted shot went straight to Abhimanyu Easwaran’s cover.

Tilak and Shreyas Gopal, the last recognized batting pair of the south zone, then survived 26.4 overs in the last few hours.

The pair added 66 runs but the south zone still faces a huge challenge.

Tilak made his third consecutive 50+ score in the competition in 143 balls. He will now have the tough task of helping South avoid a subsequent tag and keep their hopes alive.