Home
North Zone registered their first win in Deodhar Trophy 2023 on the back of opener Prabhsimran Singh's magnificent 121-run knock, skipper Nitish Rana's half-century followed by four-fer against Venkatesh Iyer-led Central Zone.
Iyer won the toss and opted to field first. He struck in his first spell as Abhishek Sharma departed after scoring 19 runs from 35 balls. Prabhsimran did the bulk of scoring in the second-wicket partnership with Himanshu Rana. Iyer broke the partnership in the 25th over. Rana scored 24 runs from 38 balls. North Zone were 133/2 when Rana got out. Prabhsimran accelerated the scoring rate and completed his century. He had a chance to score big but Karn Sharma ended his stay at the crease. His 121-run knock from 107 balls was studded with 13 fours and five sixes.
Nitish batted well but departed after reaching his half-century. He got run out by Upendra Yadav. The southpaw scored 51 runs from 50 balls including five fours and one six. Vivrant Sharma got run out for just a single by Shivam Mavi. Mandeep Singh contributed with a 42-ball 43 and took North Zone close to 300. Yash Thakur struck twice in the slog overs. North Zone managed to post 307/8 in the first innings.
In the run chase, Central Zone lost their opener Madhav Kaushik early as Harshit Rana struck with the new ball. Shivam Chaudhary and Yash Dubey shared a 99-run partnership for the second wicket. Nishant Sindhu broke the partnership in the 20th over. Shivam scored 51 runs from 60 balls including five fours and one six. Dubey and Upendra kept the required run rate in check in the middle overs. The wicketkeeper-batter scored 52 runs from 55 deliveries. Mayank Yadav broke the partnership when Central Zone were 197/3.
After Yadav's wicket, off-spinner Nitish struck twice in the 36th over. First Dubey got out lbw for 92-ball 78. Then Rinku Singh got out for a golden duck. Skipper Iyer struggled to not just score boundaries but rotate the strike as well. Karn contributed with a 22-ball 23 before getting bowled by Rana. Iyer became Nitish's third victim. He scored just 11 runs from 28 balls. Nitish got the wicket of Aditya Sarwate as well. Mayank then mopped up the tail as Central Zone got all out for 259 with 14 balls left in the innings.
Central Zone’s 48-run loss is their second on the trot. They will face West Zone on July 28 in a bid to open their win account.
MORE ON SPORTS TAK:
IND vs WI: Zaheer Khan wanted this Indian player to be adjudged ‘Man of the Series’ instead of Siraj
Shahid Afridi targets India women's team captain Harmanpreet Kaur for her on-field outburst against Bangladesh
