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.

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.