South Zone edge past holders North to make final

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.