It was expected to be a needle contest. And it lived up to
expectations. Ultimately South Zone got the better of holders
North Zone in the semifinal of the Deodhar Trophy tournament
by three wickets with nine deliveries to spare at Green Park
in Kanpur on Sunday. They now await the winner of the other
semifinal to be played between Central Zone and West Zone on
Monday.
South Zone's confidence must have been boosted by their seven
wicket victory over East Zone in the quarterfinal on Friday.
But then North Zone were always going to be tougher opponents.
However, displaying fighting spirit and all round skill, South
Zone emerged triumphant to make the final which will be played
in Lucknow on December 21.
North Zone captain Vikram Rathour won the toss and elected to
bat. He and Indian wicketkeeper Vijay Dahiya gave the team a
good start by putting on 39 runs off eight overs before
Rathour was caught by Venkatpathy Raju off Ganesh. Off the
next delivery, Ganesh bowled Yuvraj Singh and North Zone were
suddenly reduced to 39 for two.
Dahiya and wicketkeeper Pankaj Dharmani initiated a recovery
process by adding 66 runs off 13.4 overs for the third wicket.
Dharmani was then bowled by Raju for 26. North Zone slipped
further when Virender Shewag was bowled by Robin Singh for
two. Dahiya however kept one end going and he and Mongia added
38 runs for the fifth wicket off ten overs.
Leg spinner WD Balaji Rao now struck telling blows. First, he
had Mongia (23) giving him a return catch. Then he terminated
Dahiya's fighting knock by bowling him. Dahiya's 79 was
compiled off 105 balls and he hit five boundaries. Vijay
Bhardwaj gave a helping hand by removing Harbhajan Singh (2).
In the next over, Balaji Rao trapped Rahul Sanghvi leg before
for two. Suddenly, North Zone had slumped from 154 for four in
the 34th over to 181 for eight in the 41st over.
Reetinder Singh Sodhi kept the score moving and he was aided
by Gagandeep Singh in a ninth wicket partnership that added 26
runs off six overs. Gagandeep Singh was then stumped by LNP
Reddy off Balaji Rao for seven. Last man Ashish Nehra made
good use of the long handle, hitting a six and a four in
scoring 13 off 12 balls before he was run out off the last
ball of the innings. Sodhi remained unbeaten with a valuable
37 off 39 balls inclusive of a six and a four. Balaji Rao
finished with four for 44 off nine overs.
A target of 226 runs against some varied North Zone bowling
was not exactly going to be an easy task. And South Zone's job
was made tougher with openers Arun Kumar (14) and Amit Pathak
(14) falling in the space of three deliveries after an opening
stand of 33 runs. But then VVS Laxman and Vijay Bhardwaj put
South Zone in the driver's seat with a third wicket
partnership of 134 runs off 25.5 overs. By the time the stand
was broken in the 35th over, South Zone seemed to be cruising
to victory. Bhardwaj's 45 was compiled off 74 balls and he hit
two of them to the ropes. At his going, South Zone required
only 58 runs from 15 overs.
North Zone however came right back into the match with the
dismissals of Bhardwaj and Laxman off successive deliveries.
Laxman was bowled by Shewag for 76. He faced 89 balls and hit
seven of them to the fence. Vanka Pratap (10) and skipper
Robin Singh inched South Zone towards the target by adding 28
runs off eight overs. However Shewag brought North Zone back
into the game by dismissing Pratap and Ganesh (0) in the same
over. And when LNP Reddy was run out for nought in the 46th
over, South Zone at 205 for seven suddenly had a job on their
hands.
Robin Singh and T Kumaran however made light of a tough task
by quickly hitting off the remaining runs. They added 22 runs
off 3.1 overs to steer South Zone to a well deserved victory.
Robin, the crisis man, remained unbeaten with 28 off 40 balls
with two fours while Kumaran hit eleven runs off 12 deliveries
with one boundary hit. Off spinner Shewag was easily the pick
of the bowlers finishing with three for 19 off eight overs.