North Zone dominated North East Zone by nine wickets in a round-robin match of the Deodhar Trophy in Puducherry on Tuesday.
North Zone dominated North East Zone by nine wickets in a round-robin match of the Deodhar Trophy in Puducherry on Tuesday. After bowling out North East Zone for 101 in 32.1 overs, the North Zone squad knocked off the target in 12.5 overs, scoring 102 for the loss of one wicket. After North East Zone won the toss and opted to bat, spinner Mayank Markande and pacer Mayank Yadav shared seven wickets between them.
Markande returned with superb figures of 9.1-1-14-4, while Yadav took 3 for 21 from his six overs to rip apart the North East Zone batting line-up, ably supported by seamers Vaibhav Arora, Rishi Dhawan, and left-arm orthodox spinner Nishant Sindhu, who all chipped in with one wicket apiece.
Arora struck early, dismissing North East Zone opener Ashish Thapa for a duck, while their other opener, Palzor Tamang, was caught behind the wickets by Prabhsimran Singh for 10 off Dhawan.
Larry Sangma of the North East Zone was Markande’s maiden wicket in the 12th over.
The biggest breakthrough for the legbreak bowler came near the finish, when he broke North East Zone skipper Langlonyamba Meitan Keishangbam’s resistance for a 69-ball 36 – their best individual score.
Yadav ripped through North East Zone’s lower-middle order, dismissing Kangabam Priyojit (1), Kamsha Yangfo (0), and Rex Rajkumar (1) in quick succession to leave them reeling at 61 for six in the 17th over.
Markande took two more wickets near the end to complete his four-wicket total.
North Zone were rocked early when opener Shubham Khajuria was run out for six in the third over, but Prabhsimran and Himanshu Rana combined to do the job.
Prabhsimran smacked seven fours and a six in a quick 35-ball 40 not out, while Rana was more aggressive than his partner, smashing nine fours and a six to reach 52 not out off 33 balls when the winning runs were scored.
Prabhsimran and Rana put on an undefeated 93-run stand for the second wicket, despite the North East Zone utilising as many as six bowling options.
North Zone’s triumph was only their second in five games in the 50-over tournament, propelling them to fourth place in the points table, while North East Zone, who have lost all five games, remain at the bottom.
East Zone wins the Deodhar Trophy by 157 runs thanks to Parg and Murasingh.
Riyan Parag’s second century in the Deodhar Trophy (102) and Manisankar Murasingh’s stunning five-wicket haul propelled East Zone to a 157-run victory over West Zone on Tuesday.
After Parag’s blitzkrieg – 102 not out off 68 balls, studded with five sixes and six fours – propelled the East Zone to a massive 319/7 in their 50 overs, Murasingh ran riot in the West Zone ranks to help his team to a stunning triumph.
Chasing 320, the West Zone side was bowled out for 162 in 34 overs, with 30-year-old Tripura all-rounder Murasingh returning a spectacular spell of 7-1-28-5.
Utkarsh Singh contributed with a half-century and three wickets.
Saurashtra opener Harvik Desai fought alone for the losing side, scoring 92 (92 balls, 13x4s, 2x6s), but his efforts were futile as Murasingh broke the back of their chase.
Murasingh, a right-arm medium fast bowler, pinned Rahul Tripathi (1) in front of the wickets in the fifth over.
Akash Deep had earlier dismissed Samarth Vyas (12) in the third over.
Murasingh compounded Sarfaraz Khan’s woes by dismissing the Mumbai batsman for a nine-ball three in the seventh over.
In the ninth over, No. 5 batter Kathan Patel was caught by Parag off Murasingh.
In the 12th over, Murasingh struck again, taking a return catch off Shivam Dube’s bat to send him back for a five-ball duck.
Shams Mulani (12) and Atit Sheth (18) tried to put off the inevitable in the presence of Desai, but their resistance was short-lived.
Utkarsh then added a modest 5-1-16-3 spell to his team’s supremacy in the game.
West Zone captain Priyank Panchal was injured during the game and could only bat at No. 11.
Parag stole the show in the first half with his second century in three innings, while Utkarsh and Kumar Kushagra also hit crucial fifties.
Utkarsh struck 50 (52 balls, 7x4s), his second fifty of the tournament, but Abhimanyu Easwaran was bowled out for 38 at the top.
Virat Singh scored a brilliant 42 at No. 3, but Rishav Das (3) and captain Saurabh Tiwary (13) were removed cheaply, leaving East Zone on 157 for five at one point.
But, for the second time in the Deodhar Trophy, the duo of Parag and Kushagra (53 from 47 balls, 4×6) saved East Zone.
East Zone was resurrected as two batters put up 150 runs for the sixth wicket.
