North overcome South to clinch Deodhar Trophy

North Zone have beaten South Zone by 25 runs at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai to clinch the 2002/03 Deodhar Trophy.

After South skipper Venkatesh Prasad won the toss and put his opponents in, his counterpart Reetinder Singh Sodhi made 58 off 74 balls to guide North to a fighting total of 224/9 in 50 overs. Opener Akash Chopra, who made 37 off 54 balls, was the other major contributor in furthering the visitors' cause. For South, Prasad claimed 4/38 while left-arm spinner Sridharan Sriram returned useful figures of 3/47 in his 10 overs.

When the hosts replied, Sriram was to don a vital role again. The left-handed opener made 87 off 100 balls to keep his team in the hunt for the trophy. But his departure with the score on 140/4 in the 33rd over was to signal the beginning of the end as far as his team's challenge was concerned.

With Mithun Manhas and leg-spinner Amit Mishra claiming three wickets each, North managed to skittle out South for 199 and clinch the win and the trophy. The four points that they earned as a result saw them end their assignments with 13 points from four matches with three wins and one loss.

South, meanwhile, ended up third in the table with nine points from four matches with two wins and two losses.