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Skipper Priyank Panchal's unbeaten innings of 99 runs in 69 balls took the West Zone to a comfortable nine-wicket victory over the North East in their opening round-robin league match of the Deodhar Trophy in Puducherry on Monday, July 24.
The right-handed batter from Gujarat, who is normally known for his patient approach in the red-ball format, hit as many as 7 sixes and an equal number of boundaries while chasing a paltry 208 runs in just 25.1 overs. In addition to Panchal. his opening partner Harvik Desai (85 off 71 balls) was equally useful with the bat, hitting 14 boundaries during their 167-run opening stand.
Desai's wicket was eventually taken by Lee Yong Lepcha, but by then it was too late. Rahul Tripathi then entered the fray with his unbeaten 13 off 11 runs. While Panchal's boundaries primarily came square of the wicket, Six of his seven sixes came in the arc between deep mid-wicket and long-on. The most expensive bowler was left-arm spinner Imliwati Lemtur (0/47 in 4 overs), who was hit for three sixes by the Gujarat batter.
A lot of the credit also goes to the West Zone bowlers with Arzan Nagwaswalla (3/31 in 7 overs) and left-arm spinner Shams Mulani (2/37 in 10 overs) taking five wickets amongst themselves as the NorthEast were all-out for 207 in just 47 overs.
After being put into bat, North East lost opener Anup Ahlawat (6) early in the third over to pacer left-arm seamer Arzan Nagwaswalla. Fellow opener Nilesh Lamichaney (22) and Jehu Anderson (24) added 40 runs for the second wicket before the former fell to medium-pacer Atit Sheth in the 12th over.
The incoming batters struggled to build a solid partnership and North East were left tottering at 104 for 5 by the 28th over with skipper Langlonyamba Keishangbam (30) departing to pacer Shivam Dube. By the 36th over, the side was reeling at 144 for 7 before Larry Sangma (16) and Lemtur (38) contributed to a brief 49-run stand for the eighth wicket.
The partnership was broken by medium-pacer Chintan Gaja in the 46th, while eventually, the team was bundled for 207 by the 47th over, with Lemtur being the top scorer, having struck five fours and a six.
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