Chennai, Sep 10 (IANS) East Zone clinched the Duleep Trophy for the third time on Thursday after overcoming South Zone via first innings at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium on Thursday. The triumph also meant East Zone ended a 13-year drought to win the prestigious title, its last win coming in the 2012–13 season.

Resuming their second innings on the final day, East Zone rode on a maiden first-class century from Md Kounain Quraishi (116 not out off 190 balls) and a half-century from Anukul Roy (64) before declaring at 388/7 in 99.2 overs. Once the declaration was done, the Ishan Kishan-led East Zone set off into immediate celebrations over winning the title.

The contest had tilted decisively in East Zone’s favour after posting a mammoth 708 in their first innings, built around captain Ishan Kishan’s monumental 270 and 101 made by Kumar Kushagra. Kishan followed up his double century with 80 in the second innings, and took his match tally to 350 runs.

Jharkhand’s emerging talents played a pivotal role in East Zone’s triumphant run. Apart from Kushagra, Shikhar Mohan produced an impressive 85 on his Duleep Trophy debut and continued the strong touch he has displayed in the last domestic season. The duo, along with Kishan, ensured that Jharkhand’s influence remained central to East Zone’s title victory.

Earlier in the morning, Quraishi and Roy extended their seventh-wicket partnership to 150 runs, and pushed East Zone’s total beyond the 700-run mark. South Zone were penalised five runs in the 73rd over due to an unacceptably slow over-rate, following a prolonged discussion between the match officials and South Zone captain Tilak Varma.

Quraishi eventually brought up his maiden first-class century in the 96th over by driving pacer CV Milind towards extra cover for two runs to reach the three-figure mark. The young batter removed his helmet and raised his arms to celebrate as his teammates lauded him with a standing ovation from the balcony.

Quraishi capped his milestone in the following over by striking back-to-back sixes off spinner Tripurana Vijay over mid-wicket and long-on. From the other end, Roy completed a patient half-century by steering Shaik Rasheed through point for a single in the 89th over. Roy’s resistance ended when he was caught at slip by Devdutt Padikkal off MD Nidheesh for 64, after pushing loosely at a length delivery outside off-stump.

After Quraishi chipped a delivery from Milind safely down to mid-on off the second ball of the 100th over, skipper Kishan officially signalled the declaration from the pavilion. The umpires immediately removed the bails to conclude the final, thus confirming East Zone as the new champions.

Despite the unyielding pitch and oppressive humidity at Chepauk, South Zone pacer Mohammed Siraj bowled his heart out by sending down nine consecutive overs in a gruelling spell, despite the match’s outcome being practically decided. Following the declaration, the East Zone players broke into celebrations on the turf, with Kishan and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, apart from breaking into a jig with a stump in hand, waving to the cheering spectators.

Brief scores: East Zone 708 and 388/7 in 99.2 overs (Md Kounain Quraishi 116, Ishan Kishan 80; MD Nidheesh 2-28, CV Milind 1-27) draw with South Zone 336 (Tilak Varma 99; Mukesh Kumar 3-62)

–IANS

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