South Zone vs Central Zone, Final - Live Cricket Score, Commentary

Patidar collects the coveted trophy from VVS Laxman. He joins his team-mates and they pose for the photographs. Plenty of smiles in the Central Zone camp who lift the Duleep Trophy for the seventh time. The quarterfinals and the semifinals ended in draws and the first innings lead was considered for the teams to progress. The final was dragged to the fifth day and CZ emerged victorious who dominated proceedings throughout the match. On that note, it's time to bring the curtains down. Many of these players could feature in the Irani Cup (Vidarbha vs Rest of India) as well which is scheduled to start after a couple of weeks in Nagpur. Until next time, it's goodbye from all of us down here.

Rajat Patidar | Central Zone captain: Every captain likes trophies. I am a bit lucky because I have a bunch of players who have shown great character, not just in the final but in the last two matches as well. That track was completely good to bat, there also our bowlers dominated and made it difficult for the other batsmen. (On opting to bowl) This wicket was slightly dry, so we decided to bowl first. If we bowl them out, first innings, as early as possible, that was our aim to do and it made this game easier. We predicted that there'll be help for the fast bowlers but I had to give one over for spinner to see how it's responding. There was more help for the spinners rather than the fast bowlers. I enjoyed a lot of Yash (Rathod) and especially Danish (Malewar) also the way he has batted and the way he's timing the ball, I am really happy for them. (On Saransh Jain and Kumar Kartikeya) They have played a lot of matches together, they have that kind of skill, they are very difficult to play on these tracks.

Mohammed Azharuddeen | South Zone captain: If things are not going well, there will be a lot of ifs and buts but it is not the end of the world. We'll learn from this and get better. It was turning a lot, it was very difficult and their spinners were very disciplined and they were hitting the right length. There were bad decisions from our side but it's all a learning curve. Things would have been different if we played with one more spinner. There is no pinpointing, we played as a team. Win or lose, we'll take it as a team. All of us have done well, we have experienced players as well, there's no giving up easily so we fought really hard till the end.

Saransh Jain | Player of the Series: (On whether he is more happy with his bowling or batting performance?) Happy with both but more happy with my bowling. Picking up a 5-fer in the first innings in the final was special. In today’s generation, you cannot only play as a front line bowler, you have to contribute with the bat. Our plan was to bowl stock balls, we read the wicket and planned accordingly. We planned well and then executed. (On changing angles while bowling) The batters get a bit confused, if you bowl only from one angle, the batters get used to it. If you are deceiving a batter with the red ball, you are a premium bowler.

Yash Rathod is the Player of the Match

Time for the presentations...

05:35 GMT, 11:05 IST: If South Zone had set a bigger target, this match could have perhaps gone down to the wire. It's their batting in the first essay that let them down. After opting to bowl on a chilly morning, it wasn't the pacers who did the damage but the two Central Zone spinners - Saransh Jain and Kumar Kartikeya - who picked nine out of the ten wickets to bowl South Zone out for a meagre 149. In reply, CZ batted big to post 511, thanks to superb centuries from Yash Rathod (194) and Rajat Patidar (101). Having conceded a 362-run lead, it seemed like SZ were batted out of the contest. The 192-run partnership between Ankit Sharma and Andre Siddarth took them into the lead and probably gave them a glimmer of hope. But once Ankit perished on 99, South Zone collapsed. Needing just 65 runs to win on the final day, Central Zone probably took it lightly. They lost 4 wickets with Ankit and Gurjapneet picking two apiece but CZ wrapped up the proceedings inside 21 overs.

V Koushik to Yash Rathod, FOUR, 116.8kph, on a length and outside off, Rathod punches it through cover-point. The timing is good and the ball dribbles away to the fence. Rathod, 194 in the first innings, hits the winning runs. Central Zone are the 2025 Duleep Trophy champions!

V Koushik to Yash Rathod, no run, 120.4kph, Rathod skips down the track and drives to extra cover

V Koushik to Yash Rathod, 2 runs, fullish outside off, Rathod leans forward and drives square through point for a brace

Ankit Sharma to Akshay Wadkar, no run, turning away outside off and Wadkar shoulders arms

Ankit Sharma to Akshay Wadkar, no run, flat ball that turns square. Lands on middle and spins a mile to beat the outside edge

Ankit Sharma to Akshay Wadkar, no run, 85.3kph, very full and Wadkar defensively pushes to cover off the front foot

Ankit Sharma to Yash Rathod, 1 run, 89kph, slightly fuller and that's been clipped through midwicket

Ankit Sharma to Yash Rathod, no run, 84.1kph, Rathod plays with soft hands and his bottom hand comes off as he stays back to defend this sharp in-turner

Ankit Sharma to Yash Rathod, no run, 87.1kph, sharp spin off the rough. Pitches wide of off and spins down the leg-side to beat Rathod's attempted flick

V Koushik to Akshay Wadkar, no run, 118.4kph, the line is closer to off and Wadkar offers a vertical bat to defend it down the pitch

V Koushik to Akshay Wadkar, no run, 120.4kph, on a good length and wide of off, Wadkar gets forward and shoulders arms

V Koushik to Akshay Wadkar, no run, 119.9kph, fullish ball, defensively pushed to mid-off

V Koushik to Yash Rathod, 1 run, round the wicket, slanting in from a short of a good length, Rathod blunts it in front of midwicket for a quick single