Report

East Zone, helped by a fine unbeaten 112 by PJ Das, defeated South Zone by six wickets in the Vijay Hazare Trophy (under-16) tournament at the KL Saini Stadium in Jaipur on Tuesday

01-Feb-2000

East Zone, helped by a fine unbeaten 112 by PJ Das, defeated South Zone by six wickets in the Vijay Hazare Trophy (under-16) tournament at the KL Saini Stadium in Jaipur on Tuesday. This was East Zone's second successive victory in the competition.

Replying to South Zone's total of 253 for eight in 50 overs, East made a disastrous start losing both the openers with only eight runs scored. But a 165-run third wicket partnership off 28.2 overs between Das and S Paul (70) steered them out of trouble. While Paul faced 95 balls and hit six fours, Das faced 120 balls and hit eleven fours and a six. Das and A Nandi (20) then took East Zone close to the target with a fourth wicket stand of 49 runs off 9.4 overs. East finally coasted home with 5.2 overs to spare. This was South Zone's second straight defeat in two days.

Earlier, DS Chougule who scored 107, helped South Zone to post a challenging total. Chougule scored his runs off 111 balls with the help of 11 boundaries. He was concerned in two fruitful partnerships. With opener AT Rayudu (50 off 89 balls with two fours) he added 100 runs for the second wicket off 21.3 overs. Then with A Srikkanth (36 off 45 balls with two fours and a six), Chougule put on 63 runs for the fourth wicket off 12 overs.

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West Zone win pushes Central to cellar position

West Zone comfortably defeated holders Central Zone by five wickets in the final round game of the Deodhar Trophy tournament at the Wankhede stadium on Monday

Partab Ramchand

31-Jan-2000

West Zone comfortably defeated holders Central Zone by five wickets in the final round game of the Deodhar Trophy tournament at the Wankhede stadium on Monday. The result lifted West Zone to a record of two victories and two losses, the same as South Zone and East Zone. The defeat also pushed Central into the last position in the five team round robin with one win and three losses.

Central Zone were never really in with a chance after being restricted to 207 for eight in 50 overs. Put in to bat, Central were rocked early by Zakir Khan who dismissed both the openers Gagan Khoda and Jyoti Yadav with only 24 runs on the board. The Central innings was put back on course by a third wicket partnership of 46 runs off 9.5 overs between Jai P Yadav (31) and Amay Khurasia (22). But the dismissals of both the batsmen in the space of three balls was a double blow which Central Zone could ill afford.

Sanjay Bangar (24) and D Bundela then initiated another recovery process by adding 42 runs for the fifth wicket off 12.2 overs. The rally was continued by Bundela and Abbas Ali (19) who put on 49 runs for the sixth wicket off 12.5 overs. Bundela carried on gamely and remained unbeaten with 78 off 112 balls with six hits to the ropes. But there was always a doubt whether a total of 207 for eight in 50 overs could pose a serious challenge for the strong West Zone batting lineup.

Openers Sitanshu Kotak (45) and Cecil Williams (28) put West Zone on course with a partnership of 53 runs off 13.2 overs. Bundela then followed up his good knock by dismissing Vinod Kambli for 23 and Amol Muzumdar for eight. With West Zone 102 for three in the 25th over, there seemed some glimmer of hope for Central Zone. But the obdurate Kotak was still there and he and Abhijit Kale took the score to 141 before the Saurashtra left hander played a lofted drive off Jai Yadav and gave Jyoti Yadav a catch. Skipper Nayan Mongia did not last long but the in form Kale was unstoppable. He and A Dani set the seal on West Zone's supremacy with an unbroken partnership of 42 runs for the sixth wicket. Kale remained unconquered on 68 off 76 balls with seven hits to the ropes as victory was achieved with three overs to spare.

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Bagul, Jadeja steer West Zone home

An unbeaten fourth wicket partnership of 135 runs off 21.4 overs between SP Bagul (78) and Padhmanabh Jadeja (61) steered West Zone to a seven wicket victory over North Zone in the Vijay Hazare Trophy (under-16) tournament at the SJ Public school in

31-Jan-2000

Batting first, North Zone were given a good start by openers Manik Kholi (47) and Rajat Jaswal (22) who put on 54 runs off 9.4 overs. Kholi, who was the top scorer, faced 67 balls and hit nine fours. But there was little substance in the rest of the batting and they were all out for 201 in 47.3 overs.

West Zone in reply lost three wickets for 70 but Bagul and Jadeja batted confidently to take their team to a facile victory without any further loss. Bagul faced 93 balls and hit ten of them to the ropes while Jadeja had eight boundary hits in facing 67 balls. West Zone were home in the 41st over.

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Rathour stars in North Zone's title triumph

Partab Ramchand

31-Jan-2000

The Deodhar Trophy tournament had an anti climactic finish as contrary to expectations of a thrilling contest, the `final' between North Zone and South Zone at the Nehru stadium in Pune on Monday ended in a tame victory for the former. In winning by seven wickets with 5.2 overs to spare, North Zone regained the trophy it last won in 1997-98.

Few would have expected such a lop sided finish at the outset, given the fact that both teams seemed to be equally strong in all departments. This feeling gained momentum when South Zone, put in to bat, led off by scoring 278 for eight in 50 overs. But North Zone's batting might proved too much for the South Zone bowling. Under pressure, the bowlers became wayward and the fact that not even one maiden over was sent down best illustrates the bat's dominance.

Skipper Vikram Rathour shone with the bat with an electrifying 106 off 87 balls. But in retrospect, it was Amit Bhandari's opening spell in the morning which played a vital role in North Zone's triumph. The Delhi medium pacer first had the consistent run getter J Arun Kumar caught by Mithun Minhas for 14. In his next over, he had Reuben Paul caught by Dharmani for 15. And then in his seventh over, he had the prized wicket of Md Azharuddin who was held by Rathour for five.

South Zone's troubles continued. Sharandeep Singh had Sriram caught by Jadeja and when Hemang Badani was held by Sharandeep Singh off Jadeja, South Zone were down in the dumps at 76 for five in the 24th over. Then commenced a splendid rally and leading it was Sridharan Sharath. The left hander from Tamil Nadu has been in very good form this season and only in the last match against Central Zone he scored 113 to star in his team's triumph. He and his Tamil Nadu colleague S Mahesh initiated the recovery process by adding 93 runs for the seventh wicket off just 13 overs in a thrilling counter attack. Mahesh was finally bowled by Sehwag but not before he had scored 48 off 44 balls. The fact that he hit four sixes, besides one four, illustrates Mahesh's aggressive approach.

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Jaswal's century is highlight of North Zone win

Propelled by a fine 117 by opener Rajat Jaswal, North Zone outplayed South Zone by 92 runs in the Vijay Hazare Trophy (under-16) cricket tournament at the KL Saini stadium in Jaipur on Monday

31-Jan-2000

Propelled by a fine 117 by opener Rajat Jaswal, North Zone outplayed South Zone by 92 runs in the Vijay Hazare Trophy (under-16) cricket tournament at the KL Saini stadium in Jaipur on Monday.

Opting to bat first on winning the toss, North Zone were given a sound start by Jaswal and his partner Manik Kohli (34) who put on 91 runs off 19.2 overs. Then Jaswal and Bhuvnesh Sharma (50) built upon this with a second wicket partnership of 107 runs off 17.4 overs. Jaswal, who had dominated both the stands was the second batsman to be dismissed. He faced only 114 balls and hit eleven fours. There was no respite for South Zone after his departure for Bhuvnesh Sharma and skipper Joginder Sharma (45) then got entrenched in a third wicket association that yielded 74 runs off 9.2 overs. Both fell off successive deliveries in the 47th over. While Bhuvnesh was run out after facing 72 balls and hitting two fours, Joginder was out to Stuart Binny after facing 31 balls and hitting six of them to the ropes. Thanks to their top order, North Zone ultimately were able to post an imposing total of 286 for six in 50 overs. Binny took three of the five wickets to fall to bowlers for 72 runs.

The match was virtually decided when South Zone lost the first three wickets for 43 runs. After that, all that some rearguard action from skipper Gnaneswara Rao (34) and DS Chougule (75 not out) could do was to delay the inevitable. The defiant Chougule batted till the end, facing 103 balls and hitting two fours. But South Zone, never really in the game, were all out for 194 in the 46th over.

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East Zone beat back belated Central challenge

East Zone beat back a belated challenge from Central Zone to win a close contest by three wickets on the opening day of the Vijay Hazare Trophy (Under-16) cricket tournament at the KL Saini stadium in Jaipur on Sunday

30-Jan-2000

Opting to bat, Central Zone were all out for 180 in 47 overs. After five wickets had fallen for 56 runs, wicketkeeper AS Naidu (46) and Afroz Khan (67 not out) added 66 runs for the sixth wicket off 15 overs in a rescue act. While Naidu faced 68 balls and hit four of them to the ropes, Khan faced 99 balls and hit four fours and a six. Opening bowler and East Zone skipper M Talukdar, who had caused most of the early damage, was the most successful bowler with three for 14 from seven overs.

When Central Zone batted, valuable contributions from most of their top order batsmen - opener M Vardhan (35), Subhjeet Paul (29), PJ Das (24) and A Nandi (31) saw them cruising towards victory at 138 for three in the 35th over. But then wickets fell at regular intervals and at 167 for seven in the 43rd over, there was some pressure on East Zone. However they were finally home without any further loss in 45.4 overs.

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It's North Zone vs South Zone for Deodhar Trophy

The last round game between North Zone and South Zone on January 31 will decide the champions of this year's Deodhar Trophy tournament

Partab Ramchand

28-Jan-2000

The last round game between North Zone and South Zone on January 31 will decide the champions of this year's Deodhar Trophy tournament. This became clear after the penultimate round of matches in the competition on Friday. While East Zone defeated West Zone by four wickets at the Sardar Patel stadium in Ahmedabad, South Zone snatched a thrilling two wicket victory over Central Zone at the Brabourne stadium in Mumbai.

East Zone finished their fixtures with two wins and two defeats in their four games. West Zone and Central Zone, who meet in the other final round game on January 31, have got a record of one win and two losses in three matches. Both the teams then are out of the reckoning. So it all boils down to a straight title clash between South Zone and North Zone, who each have a record of two wins and one defeat from their three games.

West Zone would have been in the reckoning had they beaten East Zone on Friday. But East Zone, with a fine all round performance, got the better of West Zone with ten balls to spare. Put in to bat, West Zone started badly losing the wickets of ND Modi (2) and Iqbal Siddiqui (17) with only 42 runs on the board. But then they made a grand recovery thanks to a third wicket partnership of 162 runs off 31.4 overs between Sitanshu Kotak and Vinod Kambli. The two in form left handers made runs confidently against a six man East Zone attack. Kambli seemed headed for his third successive century in the competition but on 82 he was bowled by Laxmi Ratan Shukla. The 28-year-old left hander faced 91 balls and hit eight fours and a six.

At 204 for two in the 42nd over, West Zone had the perfect springboard to take off for a really imposing total. But after the fall of Kambli, the batsmen who followed did not exactly rise to the occasion. Shukla, in the midst of an inspired spell, got rid of Kotak as well in his next over. The Saurashtra left hander made exactly 100. He faced 143 balls and hit eight fours. Amol Muzumdar, Zakir Khan and Nayan Mongia all fell quickly in an attempt to push the scoring rate along. But Abhijit Kale made some fine strokes in hitting an unbeaten 28 off 21 balls with a six and a four. West Zone were still able to post a challenging total of 262 for seven in 50 overs. Shukla finished as the most successful bowler with three for 46 off ten overs while skipper and veteran left arm spinner Utpal Chatterjee played a major role in curbing West Zone in the slog overs in picking up two for 44, also from ten overs.