Quraishi century headlines final day as East Zone secure Duleep Trophy

With the Duleep Trophy virtually theirs because of their first-innings lead, the Jharkhand allrounder brought up his maiden first-class century before East Zone declared

East Zone 708 (Kishan 270, Kushagra 101, Vijay 4-180) and 388 for 7d (Quraishi 116*, Kishan 80, Nidheesh 2-28) drew with South Zone 336 (Tilak 99, Padikkal 62, Mukesh 3-62, Shami 2-42). East won on first-innings lead.

At 2.12pm, Ishan Kishan declared East Zone's innings, having racked up a lead of 760. Tilak Varma, South Zone's captain, had a big smile on his face as he hugged Mohammed Shami. A farcical fifth day of the 2026-27 Duleep Trophy final ended with East clinching the title on the basis of their first-innings lead, and Kishan - with scores of 270 and 80 - walking away with the Player of the Match award.

Along the way, Kishan extended his unbeaten run as captain in first-class cricket to 16 matches. He also ended this Duleep Trophy with the most runs - 409 in five innings at an average of 102.25; Tilak was a distant second with 266 runs, having been dismissed just once in the competition.

The day began dark and overcast, and East continued to pile on the runs from their overnight score of 212 for 5, at no stage showing any inclination of a declaration that could've potentially given them a chance to force an outright win. At the end of the first set of innings, East had already taken a 372-run lead.

As it turned out, the surface remained benign, with only the occasional delivery keeping low or jumping off the rough marks. East Zone batted on, because their first-innings lead was enough to secure the trophy for the team in the case of a draw.

Kounain Quraishi, the Jharkhand allrounder who made his first-class debut during the tournament, showcased his credentials with a maiden first-class century for East Zone. In Anukul Roy, he found able company as the pair put together 150 for the seventh wicket. Anukul batted with no discomfort, despite having copped a finger injury off a Mohammed Siraj bouncer in the first innings.

Prior to the Quraishi-Anukul partnership, Kumar Kushagra played a loose shot and was dismissed for 46, getting a thick edge through to N Jagadeesan while attempting an expansive drive.

Thereafter, Anukul helped himself to pressure-free runs, bringing up an eighth first-class half-century before he was superbly pouched in the slips by Devdutt Padikkal off MD Nidheesh with the second new ball.

The over rates hovered around the sluggish 10-per-hour mark. Kishan hinted that he would not declare - to give the East Zone bowlers a late dash at the target - off the field too, when he spent more than 20 minutes signing autographs and posing for selfies with fans beside the boundary.

Having gone wicketless and lacked teeth in the first innings, Siraj bounded in and gave a better account of himself in the second innings, the lifeless surface notwithstanding. His figures of 1 for 47 in 16 overs did not spell out his improvement from the first innings - where he had figures of 0 for 140 - but he was visibly up on pace and got the new ball to move both ways on this fifth day.

For much of the first session, Shaikh Rasheed operated from one end with his part-time offspin, while Shreyas Gopal from the other. Chama Milind only bowled for the first time in the 58th over, and thereafter, shared bowling duties as the East Zone innings ambled on.

Shami faced only two deliveries just prior to tea when everyone's agony at having to wait for the result - a foregone conclusion - ended with East Zone declaring, and the players shaking hands.