EZ vs SZ Highlights, Day 5, Duleep Trophy 2026 Final: East Zone claim their third trophy after Md Kounain Quraishi ton

EZ vs SZ Highlights, Duleep Trophy 2026 Final: 40 minutes before tea. East Zone are now officially the champions. If truth be told, this was inevitable after the second day after Ishan Kishan hammered 270. South Zone couldn't compete at all in this game. First losing the toss on such a flat deck cost them. Then, their batting didn't come together. They could have done better. In reply to East Zone's 708, they could only make 336. East, understandably so, didn't enforce the follow-on, and were 388/7 in their second innings when players shook hands.

EZ vs SZ LIVE Score, Duleep Trophy 2026 Final: East Zone 388/6. The lead keeps on going up. Soon, it will be 800. Just as we write that, Nidheesh removes Anukul Roy for 64. The ball bounced a bit, took an edge of Roy's bat and the first slip took a nice catch. Still there are no signs of declaration. It's 388/7 for East Zone

EZ vs SZ LIVE Score, Duleep Trophy 2026 Final: Quraishi reaches his maiden ton in 178 balls. This is only his second first-class game. The previous Duleep Trophy match, the semifinal, was his debut game. Drives Milind through the covers for a two. Moving celebrations. Totally understandable. With the new ball taken, hopefully there will be some really quick runs over the next hour or so.

EZ vs SZ LIVE Score, Duleep Trophy 2026 Final: CV Milind to bowl with the new ball.

EZ vs SZ LIVE Score, Duleep Trophy 2026 Final: Off 83 balls. East Zone 343/6. He should now aim for a century. Why not? What else is left in this game other than reaching milestones? As Quraishi has got closer to his century, he has got a bit defensive. The ball is also quite old. Tilak Varma has decided against taking the new ball, rightly so

EZ vs SZ LIVE Score, Duleep Trophy 2026 Final: First 100-run stand in this innings. And that too for the seventh wicket! That says it all, about what kind of pitch we have here. On day five when it is supposed to be tricky for batsmen! Such matches don't just test the bowlers but also the bloggers! No exaggeration. East Zone 338/6

EZ vs SZ LIVE Score, Duleep Trophy 2026 Final: Shreyas Gopal bowls to Anukul Roy. And guess what? He beats Quraishi. It always happens. Breaks do break a player's momentum, especially that of a batsman. It's a fresh start for him and Anukul Roy. East Zone 322/6

EZ vs SZ LIVE Score, Duleep Trophy 2026 Final: East Zone 321/6. Can't believe no one is stopping this game. It's a big farce. Quraishi 76 and Anukul 37 at the crease. Both have added 83 so far. Don't think East Zone will declare before the Quraishi century. They may not even do that. Difficult to say what they are going to do. They should have declared long ago.

EZ vs SZ LIVE Score, Duleep Trophy 2026 Final: Lbw appeal against Anukul Roy. Umpire says so. Shreyas Gopal and Tilak Varma go for a review. It's turned down. The ball is missing the leg stump. Big spin there. What a match for bowlers, especially South Zone bowlers. There is no hope anywhere. East Zone 311/6

EZ vs SZ LIVE Score, Duleep Trophy 2026 Final: The match drags on and on and there are no signs of declaration. One can imagine what kind of wicket it is when even lower-order batsmen look like top-order batsmen. Pakistan would love to bat on this pitch, in view of their batting woes in England. Kidding, of course. East Zone 307/6

EZ vs SZ LIVE Score, Duleep Trophy 2026 Final: Does it in style. Hoicks it over midwicket to reach his fifty off 84 balls. Impressive batting in lower order. Tripurana is the bowler at the receiving end. East Zone 265/6.

EZ vs SZ LIVE Score, Duleep Trophy 2026 Final: Quraishi 46 not out, Anukul 10 not out. Lead of 626 runs as of now. Very boring match because of a flat wicket. Even on the last day of the game, nothing is happening. Lower order looks as good as the top order.

EZ vs SZ LIVE Score, Duleep Trophy 2026 Final: The ball was angling away and Kushagra goes for a drive. Gets and edge and a simple catch for the wicketkeeper. Kushagra goes for 46. In many ways, it was a soft dismissal. East Zone 238/6

EZ vs SZ LIVE Score, Duleep Trophy 2026 Final: Mohammed Siraj has bowled some good overs but there is no wicket to speak of. Fifth day on this pitch but there is nothing much happening for the bowlers. Flat as they come. If truth be told, the match has been a farce. Why would you provide such a pitch for an important final? East Zone 237/5

EZ vs SZ LIVE Score, Duleep Trophy 2026 Final: That's a rare occurrence. It's Quraishi at the receiving end. Goes for a drive, misses the ball. There was a good yorker in the over too. Quraishi just survived. Pretty impressive over by Siraj. He is an international bowler after all. There difference is there for all to see.

EZ vs SZ LIVE Score, Duleep Trophy 2026 Final: From the bat of Kumar Kushagra off CV Milind. Wide of gulley, not a convincing shot for sure. Milind looks good as a bowler but he needs to be a bit quicker. There was a no-ball in the over too, second of the day. East Zone 221/5

EZ vs SZ LIVE Score, Duleep Trophy 2026 Final: Quraishi and Kushagra out there in the middle. Quraishi looks dead serious, which means they have been instructed to bat as long as possible. Another long day in the offing for the South Zone bowlers. There is a no-ball in the first over of the day. Uneventful over in all, just one run from that no-ball. East Zone 213/5

EZ vs SZ LIVE Score, Duleep Trophy 2026 Final: He fell short of a century by just one run in the first innings. In the semis too, he had batted well with a century and a fifty. But he won't leave Chennai as a victorious captain. Because he didn't have enough support from his teammates. And then in three days' time, he has to be ready to play Afghanistan in the first T20I in New Delhi.

EZ vs SZ LIVE Score, Duleep Trophy 2026 Final: With scores of 270 and 80, Ishan Kishan, to all intents and purposes, killed the game. His batting on the second day of the contest, if truth be told, threw Tilak Varma's South Zone totally out of the contest. With those two knocks, even though they were on a flat wicket, Kishan has improved his red-ball credentials, no two ways about it.

EZ vs SZ LIVE Score, Duleep Trophy 2026 Final: Md Kounain Quraishi (26) and Kumar Kushagra (34) are the overnight batsmen. Both have added 52 runs so far. The big question today is: how long East Zone intend to bat? They are likely to bat at least one full session and if they are not bowled out, maybe even more.

EZ vs SZ LIVE Score, Duleep Trophy 2026 Final: We are closing in on the start to day five as East Zone look to finish formalities before being crowned champions. Stay tuned for more updates.