South Zone continued their unbeaten run in the league stage of the Deodhar Trophy with a seven-wicket win over Central Zone in Puducherry on August 1. 21-year-old Sai Sudharsan starred with the bat as his unbeaten 132-run knock helped South Zone achieve the target with eight balls to spare.
Central Zone skipper Venkatesh Iyer won the toss and opted to bat first. Vasuki Koushik got rid of both openers Madhav Kaushik (6) and Shivam Chaudhary (34). A partnership was built between Yash Dubey and Upendra Yadav which was broken by Sijomon Joseph in the 25th over by getting the latter stumped. Rinku Singh played himself in but lost his wicket before the slog overs. Rinku scored 26 runs from 36 balls.
Mohit Redkar got Iyer and Karn Sharma for single-digit scores. Then Arjun Tendulkar ended Dubey's resistance. He got out in the 42nd over as Central Zone were reduced to 183/7. The opener scored 77 runs from 99 balls including five fours and one six. Saransh Jain's 19-ball 23 and Shivam Mavi's 22-ball 38 helped Central Zone post a fighting total of 261/9 on the board.
In the run chase, South Zone skipper Mayank Agarwal got retired out without facing a single delivery. Rohan Kunnummal was the first to fall in the 10th over of South Zone's innings. He scored 24 runs from 27 balls and lost his wicket to Yash Thakur. A few overs later, Iyer got the wicket of N Jagadeesan who scored 19 runs from 21 balls.
Sudharsan was not troubled by Central Zone bowlers. He shared a 69-run partnership for the third wicket with Rohit Rayudu. Karn got Rayudu stumped in the 29th over. He scored 37 runs from 48 balls. The partnership between Sudharsan and Washington Sundar did not let Central Zone get back in the game. Sundar remained unbeaten for 43 off 58 balls. Sudharsan finished off the game with his score reading 132 off 136 balls. The Tamil Nadu-born batter's innings was laced with 11 fours and one six.
After finishing on top of the points table, South Zone will now face East Zone in the final of the Deodhar Trophy on August 3. East Zone reached the final on the back of Riyan Parag’s quickfire century and Manisankar Murasingh’s five-wicket haul.
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