VISAKHAPATNAM, January 15: North ZONE defeated Central Zone by 54 runs in the Deodhar Trophy league match at the Municipal Stadium here today. The architects of North's comprehensive victory were Delhi's veteran all-rounder Ajay Sharma and rookie batsman Mithun Manhas.Defending a total of 247, North Zone bowlers struck to a good line and bundled out Central Zone for 193 in 43.2 overs. Skipper Rizwan Shamshad played a patient innings of 59 but he had little support from his teammates who threw away wickets playing unwarranted shots.
At one stage of the game, Central Zone had the opposition on the ropes reducing them to 58 for four. However, the Delhi duo of Ajay Sharma (89: 118b; 5x4) and Mithun Manhas (90: 106b; 4x4; 1x6) steered North out of woods with a 166-run fifth wicket stand.
SCOREBOARD
North Zone: Vikram Rathore c Chauhan b Hussain 6, Sandeep Sharma run out 23, Vijay Dahiya c Chauhan b Hussain 4, Ajay Sharma c Pande b Sodhi 89, Ashu Dani c Mudgal b Sodhi 5, Mithun Manhas c Yadav
b Sodhi 90, Nikhil Chopra not out 12, Shafiq Khan not out 3; Extras: (lb3, w8, nb4) 15. Total: (for six wickets in 50 overs) 247
Fall of wickets: 1-30, 2-36, 3-39, 4-58, 5-224, 6-241
Bowling: Hussain 10-1-33-2, Sodhi 9-0-38-3, Murali 10-0-36-0, Chauhan 9-0-57-0, Pande 10-0-67-0, Samshad 2-0-13-0.
Central Zone: Gagan Khoda c Dani b S Singh 11, Manoj Mudgal c A Sharma b R Singh 22, Amay Khurasiya c Rathore b Chopra 29, Rizwan Shamshad st Dahiya b N Singh 59, Jyoti Yadav run out 7, Abbas Ali c Dahiya b S Sharma 14, Gyanendra Pande c Chopra b A Sharma 31, Rajesh Chauhan c Dani b N Singh 3, Zakir Hussain run out 6, Murali Kartik c Dani b A Sharma 0, Harvinder Singh Sodhi not out 0; Extras: (b4, lb5, w1, nb1) 11. Total: (all out in 43.2 overs) 193
Fall of wickets: 1-26, 2-46, 3-75, 4-88, 5-110, 6-171, 7-176, 8-188, 9-192
Bowling: Robin Singh 9-1-38-1, Shakti Singh 7-0-18-1, Sandeep Sharma 8-0-26-1, Nikhil Chopra 8-0-50-1, Navdeep Singh
5.2-0-29-2, Mithun Manhas 2-0-8-0, Ajay Sharma 4-0-15-2
RESULT: North win by 54 runs
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
