Stumps East Zone 385 for 4 (Kishan 111*, Mohan 85, Easwaran 72, Kushagra 63*. Milind 2-56) vs South Zone

Two batters, in particular, stood out.

Until then, though, Easwaran had batted with the authority and fluency he is known to possess, but had rarely been able to display lately. But on a bouncy red-soil deck, he served a reminder to the national selectors about his red-ball pedigree, building on from his half-century in last week’s semi-final win.

Coming off a breakout debut season for Jharkhand, Mohan was poised to bring up his third first-class century when he chopped on against left-arm seamer CV Milind for 85. At this point, East were 241 for 4, with South evening a small opening. But what followed was more agony instead, as they were ground to dust.

Six overs in, Tilak Varma had four fielders stationed on the boundary to prevent Sooryavanshi from teeing off. And an hour in, Tilak’s patience ran out as he soon indulged in some banter and sledging against Sooryavanshi that was deemed serious enough for the umpires to step in. South’s tactic of bowling short post-tea too seemed devoid of any logic against two batters who kept taking them on and pocketing runs instead of backing away. This was around the time Mohammed Siraj, far from his rhythmic best and low on pace – much like he was during the Test tour of Sri Lanka – completely unravelled. He finished the day with figures of 0 for 96 in 14 overs.

Both captains got what they wanted at the toss, and Sooryavanshi shunned the big shots early on. Barring the first ball that he tried to drive through the covers, only to squeeze an inside edge into the leg side, he was largely copybook. Sooryavanshi treated the Sunday crowd soon enough to an array of delightful off-side strokes on the up – in the arc between backward point and extra cover. The spread-out fields as early as the fifth over did little to build any pressure. That the first maiden of the innings came in the 20th over told you a story.

Sooryavanshi raced to 34 off 24 without playing a shot in anger, picking Siraj for a sequence of 4, 6, 4 in his first spell to get him thinking. At the other end, Easwaran was copybook as he usually is, and drove superbly against the pacers. But the aspect of his game that stood out was his back foot play, and his manner of playing the pull shots off Siraj that were brought out repeatedly – allowing him to gallop ahead of Sooryavanshi as he brought up a fifty off just 46 balls.

Sooryavanshi was the first to be dismissed when he attempted to take on Milind’s short ball, only to pick out deep midwicket. The dismissal somewhat slowed the scoring rate, and led to Easwaran’s run-out when he pushed it to point and saw Mohan initially respond, only for him to turn his back.

South smelt a whiff of an opportunity when Sudip Gharami stepped out to mistime a lofted shot straight to Milind off T Vijay, the offspinner, to leave them 147 for 3. But any hopes of a comeback were firmly nipped in the bud by the Jharkhand trio of Kishan, Mohan and Kushagra.

Mohan was particularly punishing against spin, bringing up his fourth first-class century off 61 balls on Duleep Trophy debut. After his dismissal, Kushagra was subjected to a short-ball barrage which he took on post tea, the standout being the hook over fine leg for six off Siraj. Subdued until he got to a half-century off 71 balls, Kishan broke free, stepping to launch Vijay for a six off the next delivery. There on, he galloped towards a century, and then seeing East close out in a dominant position.