Rathour stars in North Zone's title triumph

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.

Sharath now found another able ally in Aashish Kapoor and the two continued the recovery process by adding 31 runs off five overs. After Kapoor fell for 12, Sharath and Dodda Ganesh then belted the North Zone bowlers all over the place during an eighth wicket association that put on 74 runs off just eight overs. Sharath was dismissed in the final over for a gallant 104. He faced 123 balls and hit six fours and five sixes. Ganesh remained unbeaten with 27 off 20 balls and South Zone could look back with some comfort at their final total especially after the wretched start.

However, North Zone made light of what seemed to be a challenging target. They were given an excellent start with openers Rathour and Ashu Dani putting on 136 runs in 19 overs. Dani was the first to go after scoring 40 off 61 balls with four fours and a six. Then Rathour and Ajay Jadeja consolidated with a second wicket partnership of 46 runs off 10 overs. Rathour, who was in a belligerent mood, hit 106 off just 87 balls with 19 hits to the ropes.

There was no respite for South Zone even after Rathour's departure for Jadeja and Pankaj Dharmani then came together for a third wicket stand that added 84 runs off 14.2 overs. By the time Dharmani fell in the 44th over for 36 off 43 balls with five boundary hits, the match was virtually over. Jadeja and Virender Sehwag applied the finishing touches. Two successive wides by Ganesh gave North Zone the winning runs. Jadeja remained unbeaten with 60 off 86 balls with eight hits to the ropes.