Duleep Trophy final, Day 1: Kishan takes East to 385-4 vs South

Skipper Ishan Kishan struck a flowing unbeaten 111, leading East Zone to a commanding 385 for four against a sloppy South Zone on the opening day of the Duleep Trophy final here on Sunday. Kishan (14x4, 1x6) and Kumar Kushagra (63) were batting at stumps, and the fifth wicket pair has so far added 144 runs in just 26.4 overs. The other contributors were teen phenom Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (44, 37b), Abhimanyu Easwaran (72), and Shikhar Mohan (85).

Kishan, who completed 4000 first-class runs, merged aggression and composure to a nicety in his 135-ball knock, and raised 94 runs for the fourth wicket with Mohan. It came at an important juncture too when East were in trouble, the only time in the first innings so far, at 147 for three.

South could have had their rivals in a far deeper predicament but Kishan and Mohan averted the disaster on a pitch that remained true the whole day. Kishan's was a complete innings, sending the ball to all parts of the field through powerful pulls and imperious drives through the covers. solvita.blog

The left-hander reached his fifty in 71 balls and then the next 50 came off 51 balls, completing his 10th first-class hundred. Kishan reached the landmark with a driven four off Shreyas Gopal, who was playing in his 100th first-class match. At the other end, Mohan has a solid presence, showing a lot more maturity than his tender 21 years.

The feature of his innings was the judgment he showed to leave the ball outside off-stump. There was not even one single play and miss in his innings. But his fifty was not all about defence as Mohan carted off-spinner Tripurana Vijay for a six and two fours in one over to showcase his range. Just as he was nearing a well-deserved hundred, Mohan chopped left-arm pacer CV Milind, who replaced an injured Vidwath Kaverappa, on to his stumps.

In fact, it was the East's first innings story in a nutshell, batters getting dismissed before the innings reached the full bloom. Easwaran, who is often dubbed as an obdurate batter, looked in complete control, and at times even outpaced Sooryavanshi.

They milked 100 runs for the opening wicket in just 14.overs and East seldom let that momentum slip. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi would curse himself for playing a rather reckless pull off Milind for substitute Tanay Thayagarajan to offer a simple catch in the deep. It, perhaps, was the first time South bowlers tested the young left-hander with a short-pitched ball and it yielded instant results.

The whole sequence will teach the Bihar youngster to show more patience in the middle, particularly when nearly 10,000 spectators thronged the MA Chidambaram Stadium to watch the latest wonder kid in cricket. Kushagra too played with determination as South withered under a barrage of runs. Nothing more revealed the plight of South than the sight of lead pacer Mohammad Siraj going through three colourless spells.

The India quick's outing on the day read - 5-0-41-0, 5-1-24-0 and 4-0-31-0 for an overall reading of 14-1-96-0. Siraj was clobbered around by Sooryavanshi (6, 4, 4), Easwaran (4, 4), Kushagra (6, 4) as the Hyderabad man struggled to make an impact.

He can partly blame a flat pitch for his ineffectiveness, but there was no real attempt from his side to alter the course of the happenings. Unless, South find a way to pluck East's remaining six wickets on Monday quickly they will be further buried under an avalanche of runs, and will find it tough to come out of it.

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Women’s Asia Cup Semi Final Scenario: वूमेंस एशिया कप 2026 के सेमीफाइनल में भारत के बाद अब श्रीलंका ने भी अपनी जगह पक्की कर ली है। ग्रुप A में जहां भारतीय टीम तीनों मैच जीतकर टॉप पर रही, तो ग्रुप B में श्रीलंका ने इंडोनेशिया, बांग्लादेश और UAE को मात दी। अब दोनों ग्रुप्स से सिर्फ एक-एक टीम अंतिम-4 का टिकट हासिल कर सकती है। ग्रुप A से हांगकांग और थाईलैंड का बाहर होना तय माना जा रहा है, तो ग्रुप B की जंग रोमांचक हो चुकी है।

ACC Women Asia Cup 2026: Harmanpreet Kaur’s India women cricket team are one win away from entering the ACC Women Asia Cup 2026 final as they await the winner of match between Bangladesh and UAE on Tuesday to face in the first semifinal match in Dubai on Thursday. The Indians booked their berth in the semifinal from Group after their massive seven-wicket win over arch-rivals Pakistan women team – bundling them out for only 55 on Saturday.

The two teams continued their ‘no-handshake’ policy after the Asia Cup match in Dubai on Saturday. Both Indian men’s and women team have decided that there will be no ‘handshakes’ with any Pakistan cricketers in the aftermath of Pahalgam terrorist attack and India’s ‘Operation Sindoor’ last year.

There is, however, some bad news for the Indian team as Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Mohsin Naqvi, who is also President of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) plans to once again handover the trophy to the winning side after the Asia Cup 2026 final.

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According to a report in Pakistan’s Geo Sport website, not only is Naqvi planning to attend the Women’s Asia Cup 2026 final in Dubai on Sunday, September 13, but he has also been named the ‘chief guest’ of the final. It virtually means that the winner’s trophy will be handed over by Naqvi, who is currently the Interior Minister of Pakistan as well.

Carrying the positive momentum forward

Captain Harmanpreet Kaur on the takeaways from #TeamIndia‘s league stage wins – By @mihirlee_58 #WomensAsiaCup | @ImHarmanpreet pic.twitter.com/RW5IonRgWj

— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) September 7, 2026

It will be interesting to see what will happen if Harmanpreet Kaur’s side manage to win back the Asia Cup title on Sunday – something they might be able to achieve considering that they hold an unbeaten record currently in the Group stages.

“It was a very important game for us. We talk about being ruthless, so very happy. All the bowlers have been outstanding, stuck to the plans, read the pitch well and executed well,” Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur said at the post-match presentation ceremony on Saturday.

“It is very important to keep the standards high. I know what this team brings to the table. As far as losing three wickets is concerned, it can happen. Pakistan have a good bowling attack,” Harmanpreet added.

Suryakumar Yadav refused to accept Asia Cup 2025 trophy from Mohsin Naqvi

India men’s cricket team led by Suryakumar Yadav managed to defeat arch-rivals Pakistan not once but three times in the Asia Cup 2025 edition. The tournament was an emotionally charged-up affair where Pakistan at once stage almost decided to pull out of their second match against Team India due to the ‘no handshake’ policy.

There were unprecedented scenes after the Asia Cup 2025 final as Mohsin Naqvi was on the stage for nearly an hour after the final but the Indian team refused to accept the trophy from him. The PCB chief subsequently left the Dubai International Cricket Stadium with the Asia Cup trophy and Team India have not received the trophy since then.

There have been multiple dialogues between BCCI officials along with their Asian Cricket Council counterparts but the trophy remains locked up in ACC headquarters in Dubai. We can have a similar situation if India Women cricket team can win the 2026 final on Sunday.