Pacers Mohammed Shami (2-17) and Mukesh Kumar’s (2-36) decisive blows helped East Zone close in on the Duleep Trophy title, reducing South Zone to 242 for six on the third day of the final here on Tuesday.

Skipper Tilak Varma (56, 133b) and CV Milind (0) were batting at stumps after Shreyas Gopal (26) got out in the closing minutes of the day. Earlier, Devdutt Padikkal chipped in with 62. South trail by 466 and overhauling East’s humongous 708 is nearly impossible from this point