MATCH REPORT
Follow UsSouth Zone bowlers at it again
The South Zone bowling attack has been in some form in the 2023 Deodhar Trophy. Having bundled out North Zone for just 60 on Monday, R Sai Kishore and Co. once again stepped up and helped their team defend 206 against West Zone’s strong’s batting unit. If it was their seamers who dictated terms against North Zone, it was Sai Kishore and Washington Sundar who shared five wickets between them against West Zone on Wednesday (July 26).
Two of West Zone’s top-four batters were run-out and that gave South Zone some much-needed momentum in the second innings. Skipper Priyank Panchal couldn’t even open his account, while Harvik Desai (11), Rahul Tripathi (15) and Ankit Bawne (17) all perished after getting starts. Sarfaraz Khan (42-ball 42), Shivam Dube (36-ball 29) and Atit Sheth (39-ball 40) gave West Zone some stability in the run-chase but none of them could finish the job.
Sai Kishore took 3/44, while Washington claimed 2/34 as West Zone were bowled out for 194 with more than 13 overs to spare. Earlier, Mayank Agarwal (115-ball 98) and Arun Karthik (23) were the only two batters from South Zone’s top-eight to cross the 10-run mark. Vijaykumar Vyshak (20) and Vidhwath Kaverappa (19) put on 32 runs for the ninth wicket, which ended up being a match-defining partnership.
Prabhsimran continues to impress
Prabhsimran Singh is slowly and steadily becoming a household name in domestic cricket. The 22-year-old had a pretty decent IPL 2023 and was also amongst the runs in the Duleep Trophy. The wicketkeeper-batter was also picked for the emerging Asia Cup but didn’t get a single game. Got out for just two runs against South Zone on Monday but made up for it by slamming 121 off 107 against Central Zone.
The right-handed opener slammed 13 fours and five maximums as North Zone amassed 307/8 in their 50 overs, which was quite a response after being bowled out for 60 in their first game. Skipper Nitish Rana (50-ball 51) and Mandeep Singh (42-ball 43) also got some runs as North Zone scored fives times of what they did against South Zone.
In reply, three of Central Zone’s top-four batters - Shivam Chaudhary (60-ball 51), Yash Dubey (92-ball 78) and Upendra Yadav (55-ball 52) - got half-centuries but none of them could finish the job. CZ were 197/2 before the end of the 35th over but lost all the momentum thereafter. Rana took 4/48, while Mayank Yadav picked up 3/47), as Central Zone were bundled out 48 runs short of the total.
Easwaran's century seals the deal for East Zone
North East Zone got off to the best start possible, scoring 29 runs in the first five overs. However, things went haywire since then, when Shahbaz Ahmed struck first. Mukhtar Hussain too joined the party with a wicket, but the ultimate damage was done by Riyan Parag, who finished with figures of 4/30 in his ten overs. If not for the fightback from Rex Singh, who scored an unbeaten 65, they would have been staring at a soul-crushing defeat, taking their total to 169 at the end of 48 overs.
The duo of Utkarsh Singh and Abhimanyu Easwaran started well, with both of them taking the East Zone to 93 without the loss of a wicket. But then, Lee Yong Lepcha struck to remove Utkarsh Singh, with Riyan Parag coming to bat. The all-rounder hit a few and had fun before exiting the park, having scored a nine-ball 13. Virat Singh (17) joined hands with the skipper Easwaran to ensure that the latter got to his century, with the Indian A skipper finishing unbeaten on 100, as East Zone posted a monumental win.
East Zone have now joined South at the top of the table, with both of them at eight points each. South's superior net run-rate (+2.550) meant that they currently lead the competition with three more rounds to follow.
