Riyan Parag's unbeaten quickfire century and Manisankar Murasingh's fifer led East Zone to a massive 157-run win over East Zone at Cricket Association Puducherry Ground 2 to reach Deodhar Trophy 2023 final. Parag's second century of the tournament backed by half-centuries from Utkarsh Singh and wicketkeeper-batter Kumar Kushagra helped East Zone post 319/7. Then Murasingh rushed through West Zone's batting lineup as they were bowled out for 162 in 34 overs.
East Zone skipper Saurabh Tiwary won the toss and opted to bat first. They got off to a decent start. Abhimanyu Easwaran was the first to fall. Arzan Nagwaswalla broke the partnership. He scored 38 runs from 43 balls. Utkarsh got to his half-century but got out lbw to Shams Mulani right after. He scored 50 runs from 52 balls including seven fours and one six. Then Rishav Das got run out for a single-digit score. Virat Singh missed his half-century and got bowled by Mulani for a score of 42. Skipper Tiwary could not make an impact either and got bowled by Mulani after scoring just 13 runs.
Despite a good start, East Zone were struggling for 157/5 in the 32nd over. Parag came out to bat all guns blazing. He got support from Kushagra. The duo got East Zone's score past 300. The 21-year-old remained not out for 102 from 68 balls. His century was studded with six fours and five sixes. In the penultimate over, Kushagra lost his wicket. He scored 53 runs from 47 balls including four sixes.
West Zone's run chase got off to a poor start. Samarth Vyas got out for a single-digit score to Akash Deep. The Murasingh got the new ball talking. Rahul Tripathi, Kathan Patel, Shivam Dube got out for ducks whereas Sarfaraz Khan got out for a single-digit score. Harvik Desai did not have support from the other end. Mulani and Atit Sheth played too many deliveries on the other end. Rajvardhan Hangargekar and Nagwaswalla could not stay long at the crease either as Murasingh completed his fifer. Desai was the last to fall. He contributed with a run-a-ball 92 which included 13 fours and two sixes. Skipper Priyank Panchal walked out at no.11 as he injured his ankle while fielding. West Zone got all out for 162 from 34 overs.
East Zone will now face South Zone in the final of Deodhar Trophy on August 3.
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