RESULT
Visakhapatnam, March 26, 2008, Deodhar Trophy
(50 ov, T:297) 240/7

East Zone won by 56 runs

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West beat South to finish second

Powered by a counterattacking 90 by Abhishek Nayar, and a steady display by their medium-pacers, West Zone beat South Zone by 26 runs in Bangalore to finish second in the Deodhar Trophy

Cricinfo staff
26-Mar-2008
West Zone 272 (Nayar 90, Vinay Kumar 3-43) beat South Zone 246 (Badrinath 64, Trivedi 3-38, Munaf 2-33) by 26 runs
Scorecard

Nayar's 80-ball 90 propelled West to a win over South © Cricinfo Ltd
 
Powered by a counterattacking 90 by Abhishek Nayar, and a steady display by their medium-pacers, West Zone beat South Zone by 26 runs in Bangalore to finish second in the Deodhar Trophy. Central had already secured the title by winning their first three matches with a bonus point in each of them.
West had started a middle-order collapse when Nayar came into bat at 105 for 3 in the 25th over. In the next 10 overs, they stumbled to 165 for 6, and were in danger of being bowled out. That's when Nayar found stable company in Ajit Agarkar, and by the time Agarkar got out West were in a position to accelerate in the slog overs. The two added 66 in 11.1 overs, while some lusty blows towards the end to take West to 272. Nayar was the last man out - in the 50th over, for an 80-ball 90.
South's chase never got going, and they had lost Robin Uthappa, M Vijay and S Vidyut in the first 13 overs for 51 runs. S Badrinath, along with mini contributions from the middle and the lower-middle order, kept them within an outside shot, but once Badrinath got out for 64 in the 42nd over, the task was too much for the lower order. Munaf Patel and Siddharth Trivedi took three wickets apiece.
East Zone 296 for 9 (Majumdar 109, S Tiwary 73, Sangwan 3-54) beat North Zone 240 (Kohli 62, Saxena 2-22) by 56 runs
Scorecard
Anustup Majumdar and Saurabh Tiwary helped East Zone recover from a precarious situation to put up 296, a total North Zone did not have the firepower to chase. This ended a dismal campaign for North Zone, who failed to win anything and conceded bonus points in two of their matches. East finished third with nine points from four matches.
When Majumdar and Saurabh came together, East had lost three wickets for 75 runs, and were in need of a partnership that would be big and one that would keep the rate up. The two did just that, adding 133 runs in 31.1 overs. Saurabh contributed 73 of those - off 74 balls, with the help of three fours and three sixes. Majumdar, though, went on to get his second List A century and his highest List A score, hitting 10 fours and two sixes in his 107-ball 109.
The lack of impetus in East's slog overs - last nine overs went for 56 - proved inconsequential, as a slow start followed by a middle-order collapse meant North were never with a shot. A mini recovery by Virat Kohli had taken North to 96 for 2 in the 22nd over, but it soon became 134 for 7 as East wrested control.

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Deodhar Trophy

TEAMMWLDPTNRR
CEZ4300171.986
WEZ4310130.360
EAZ421090.154
SOZ41303-0.371
NOZ4040-2-1.440