Chennai: East Zone have ended a 13-year wait for the Duleep Trophy, lifting the title after their final against South Zone ended in a draw at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Thursday.
Despite the match finishing without a winner, East Zone were declared champions on the basis of their 372-run first-innings lead.
Captain Ishan Kishan was the architect of East Zone’s dominant performance. He smashed a spectacular 270, helping his side post 708 in their first innings.
Kumar Kushagra added 101, while South Zone were bowled out for 336 in reply. South captain Tilak Varma narrowly missed a century, falling for 99, while Devdutt Padikkal contributed 62.
East Zone then strengthened their grip in the second innings, eventually finishing on 388/7 before the match ended in a draw.
Kishan added another 80 in the second innings, taking his match aggregate to 350 runs. Md Kounain Qureshi also made an unbeaten 116 in the second innings.
The key was the first-innings lead rule.
East Zone's 708 was 372 runs more than South Zone's 336. With the final ending in a draw, that massive first-innings advantage was enough to hand East Zone the championship.
The victory ends East Zone's long title drought, with their previous Duleep Trophy triumphs coming in 2011-12 and 2012-13.
For Kishan, it was a memorable tournament capped by a dominant individual performance. His 270 was followed by another 80 in the second innings, making him the standout performer of the final.
The triumph also featured a mix of experience and youth, with veteran pacer Mohammed Shami playing alongside teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.
East Zone's long wait is finally over — and they did it without needing to win the final outright.
