Deodhar Trophy: South Zone seals a place in the final with fourth straight win

R. Sai Kishore’s three-wicket haul (three for 45) and skipper Mayank Agarwal’s 84 (88b, 6x4, 1x6) ensured South Zone continued its merry run in the Deodhar Trophy as it defeated East Zone by five wickets at the Cricket Association of Pondicherry ground. Deodhar Trophy: South Zone seals a place in the final with fourth straight win. East Zone’s fielders made things difficult for themselves with poor catching, with Mayank Agarwal and Sai Sudharsan getting a reprieve early in their innings

R. Sai Kishore’s three-wicket haul (three for 45) and skipper Mayank Agarwal’s 84 (88b, 6x4, 1x6) ensured South Zone continued its merry run in the Deodhar Trophy as it defeated East Zone by five wickets at the Cricket Association of Pondicherry ground here on Sunday.

With a fourth straight win, South also sealed its place in the final and is the only unbeaten side in the tournament.

Chasing a modest 230 for victory, Mayank and Rohan Kunnummal got the team off brisky before the former and B. Sai Sudharsan (53, 67b, 4x4, 1x6) were involved in a match-winning 118-run stand for the second wicket.

East’s fielders made things difficult for themselves with poor catching, with Mayank and Sai Sudharsan getting a reprieve early in their innings.

Mayank was also lucky when he nicked one to the ’keeper off a no-ball from Mura Singh in the third over. He then hit the free-hit for six and scored a few more boundaries off the pacer as he sprinted away in the PowerPlay.

Once the field spread out, Mayank used his experience to accumulate runs by rotating the strike to reach his third half-century of the tournament and put his side on the victory path.

Earlier, East Zone’s innings saw wild momentum swings, but a costly middle-order collapse meant the team had an uphill battle to stay alive in the contest as it folded out for 229 after electing to bat.