On the back of all-rounder Shivam Dube's belligerent innings with the bat, West Zone registered an emphatic win over North Zone in a Deodhar Trophy clash at Cricket Association Puducherry Siechem Ground on July 30 (Sunday). Chasing a challenging target of 260 runs, West Zone sailed to the promised land after Dube smacked 83 not out in 78 balls. In his attractive knock, the muscular left-handed batter smoked three fours and five sixes.
West Zone failed to get an ideal start to their run chase despite opener Harvik Desai scoring a good-looking half-century. After scoring 56 runs off 70 balls with the help of seven fours, Desai was unfortunate and was dismissed in the form of a run out. Captain Priyank Panchal (14 runs off 18 balls), stylish batter Rahul Tripathi (3 runs off 15 balls) and Samarth Vyas (25 runs off 27 balls) failed to make any significant contribution, leaving West Zone scrambling at 122/4.
In desperate need of a partnership, West Zone found their saviours in the form of Dube and Kathan Patel. The dup stitched a match-winning alliance of 138 runs as Panchal's men claimed victory with seven balls to spare. Patel remained unbeaten on 63 runs off 85 balls which he scored with the help of six fours.
Rishi Dhawan (1/30), Mayank Yadav (1/39) and Nitish Rana (1/46) took one wicket each for North Zone.
Opting to bat, North Zone posted a competitive 259/6 in 50 overs, riding on the three fifties scored by Himanshu Rana (54 runs off 63 balls), Nitish Rana (54 runs off 58 balls) and Shubham Rohilla (56 runs off 52 balls) but it was not enough in the end.
For West Zone, Shams Mulani (3/29) was the most successful bowler, while RS Hangargekar (1/43), Sarfaraz Khan (1/17) and Rahul Tripathi (1/26) scalped one wicket each.
West Zone are placed at the third spot with 12 points following three wins in four matches, while North Zone are at the fifth position with one win from four games.
Â
MORE ON SPORTS TAK:Â
Jasprit Bumrah bowls for 1st time in 10 months, prepares for Asia Cup with 10 over in intra-squad friendly against Mumbai batters
WATCH: After announcing retirement, Stuart Broad gets Guard of Honour from Australian on Day 4 of final Ashes Test
