East Zone lifted their third Duleep Trophy title on the basis of first-innings lead against South Zone in the final, ending a 14-year wait for the trophy and sparking jubilant celebrations at Chepauk in Chennai. The memorable triumph was made even more special as veteran pacer Mohd. Shami marked his 100th first-class appearance with a title-winning performance.

Captain Ishan Kishan led from the front with a marathon 270-run knock in the first innings and 80 in the second to record the most runs by a batter in a single Duleep Trophy match.

After winning the toss, Kishan opted to bat, and East Zone openers Abhimanyu Easwaran and Vice-captain Vaibhav Sooryavanshi set the tone with a 100-run stand from just 14.4 overs. The captain then took over from there and smashed a brilliant 270 from 334. He was ably supported by wicketkeeper-batter Kumar Kushagra, who hit his maiden Duleep Trophy century. Kishan then stitched a 140-run stand with all-rounder Anukul Roy as East Zone put up a commanding 708 on the board in the first innings. Tripurana Vijay battled hard and picked up four wickets for South Zone.

A collective bowling effort then led by the in-form Mukesh Kumar (3/62) helped East Zone bowl South Zone out for 336 and take a huge 372-run lead. Captain Tilak Varma led South Zone's fight with a gritty 99, while Devdutt Padikkal scored 62.

East Zone then batted South Zone out of the contest, piling on 388/7 in the second innings before both the teams shook hands as the match ended in a draw and East Zone won on the basis of the first-innings lead.

Kounain Quraishi made his mark in the second innings with his maiden Duleep Trophy century while captain Kishan (80), Shikhar Mohan (52) and Anukul Roy (64) hit fifties.

Captain Kishan was named the player of the match for his 350 runs in the match.

East Zone played like champions throughout the campaign. They started off with a huge victory by an innings and 210 runs against North East Zone in the quarter-final. They then edged Central Zone by four wickets in the semis, winning the key moments in a see-saw clash in Bengaluru before powering through a strong South Zone side in the final in Chennai.

Captain Ishan Kishan finished with most runs in the tournament - 409. Mukesh Kumar finished as the highest wicket-taker in the tournament - 12.

South Zone captain Tilak Varma was named the Player of the Series for his excellent batting in the semis and final, amassing a total of 266 runs.