India, Sept. 7 -- East Zone's first innings in the Duleep Trophy final ended only when South Zone took the 10th wicket. Ishan Kishan's side were bowled out for 708 in 163 overs at Chepauk, having used more than a third of the 450 overs theoretically available in a five-day match before South had faced a single ball.

There was nothing irrational about batting that long. If the final ends in a draw, the team with the first-innings lead wins the Duleep Trophy, so every extra East Zone run made South's task harder while every additional over reduced the time available for South to force an outright result. The strange part is not that East batted beyond 700; it is that the regulations gave them such a powerful reason to do so.

The Duleep Tr...