South Zone skipper Mayank Agarwal dropped left-arm pacer Arjun Tendulkar from Deodhar Trophy final clash against East Zone on August 3. Tendulkar had not delivered outstanding performances and hence warmed the bench for the final clash.
Arjun was given a chance in the dead rubber clash against Central Zone where he picked up two wickets for 65 runs in his quota of 10 overs. South Zone won the match and continued their unbeaten run in the tournament. Earlier, he was given a chance against minnows North East Zone as well. He bowled a total of seven overs including two maidens and picked up one wicket.
On the other hand, Vidwath Kaverappa has been in top form. In the four league stage games of Deodhar Trophy he picked up 11 wickets from four games including a match-winning fifer against North Zone. Even in the clash against North East Zone where he played alongside Tendulkar, the Karnataka pacer took three wickets from nine overs including three maidens.
No IPL debut for Kaverappa
In Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023, Kaverappa did not get a single chance to play for Punjab Kings (PBKS). Tendulkar made his Debut for Mumbai Indians (MI). He took three wickets from four games and leaked runs at 9.36 runs per over.
South Zone post big total
In the final clash, South Zone posted a mammoth total of 328/8. South Zone openers Rohan Kunnummal and Agarwal shared a 181-run partnership from 24.5 overs. Utkarsh Singh broke the partnership just before the halfway stage. Kunnummal got out after a quickfire century. He scored 107 runs from 75 balls. His knock was studded with 11 fours and four sixes. One wicket brought another. Utkarsh in his next over got Agarwal's wicket. The opener scored 63 runs from 83 balls including four overs.
Sai Sudharsan got off to a good start but was dismissed by off-spinner Riyan Parag. N Jagadeesan scored a half-century and Sai Kishore's unbeaten 19-ball 24 cameo helped South Zone post 328/8.
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