Central Zone beat South Zone by four wickets in a closely-fought encounter at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur to seal their place in the semi-final of the Deodhar Trophy. The seamers led Central's charge, sharing eight wickets between them. Left-arm seamers RP Singh and Shrikant Wagh nipped out three wickets each while Pankaj Singh chipped in with two. South had been reduced to 51 for 4 at one stage but the Tamil Nadu pair of Dinesh Karthik and Srikkanth Anirudha revived them with a 118-run stand. That, however, was undermined by the collapse that followed, where six wickets fell for 25, closing the innings on 194.
Central didn't quite run away with the game in their chase, but their batsmen built steady partnerships that didn't allow the tide to turn. Parvinder Singh starred with a half-century but South were in with a chance when he was the fifth wicket to fall with the score on 133. But Ravi Jangid took over the responsibility of batting through to the finish, and did so with an unbeaten 43 which sealed victory with nine balls to spare.
Central take on North Zone in the semis.