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East Zone shocks North Zone

Special Correspondent

— Photo: PTI

GOOD KNOCK: East Zone’s Ishank Jaggi acknowledges the applause after reaching his century on Saturday.

CUTTACK: East Zone delivered a knockout punch on 11-time champion North with a 65-run victory in a group A league match of the Prof. D.B. Deodhar Trophy tournament at the Barabati Stadium on Saturday.

The victory earned East five points and the self assurance to take on the defending champion Central in its final league match on Monday.

Having lost the first game in group B to West, that too by conceding a bonus point on Friday, South recovered from a precarious 80 for five against Zimbabwe President’s XI to win the contest by three wickets at the Ravenshaw University ground.

The win meant South would have to wait till the final league game between Zimbabwe and West to know its fate.

Lone exception

Put in, all the top order East batsmen got runs with the exception of captain Manoj Tiwary. The opening stand between Wriddhiman Saha (84, 98b, 11x4) and Nataraj Behera (41, 49b, 8x4) produced 98 runs in 17.5 overs.

The best part of the innings was Ishank Jaggi’s unbeaten 110 (98b, 10x4, 2x6) at No. 3, his second century in 12 games.

The best partnership was for the fourth wicket between Jaggi and Sourabh Tiwary which produced 111 in 94 balls. Tiwary hammered 52 (45b, 4x4) to lift East to 305 for six in 50 overs.

“North misread the pitch and put us in. The opening partnership showed us the way. Thereafter we never allowed the game to swing North’s way,” said an elated Tiwary.

North’s Mithun Manhas was dejected by the defeat. “It was always very difficult to chase a big score without a solid opening stand. Too many early wickets did not help our team,” he said. Only Aakash Chopra (58, 75b, 6x4) and Manhas (58, 55b, 4x4, 1x6) were among runs. The rest, including Virat Kohli, fell cheaply.

Running into trouble

Zimbabwe XI batted first and ran into trouble after the opening pair put on 41 runs. A 79-run partnership of 121 balls between Stuart Matsikenyeri and Forster Mutizwa enabled the side to recover before another collapse saw it finish at 193 in 49. 5 overs.

For a strong team like South, the target should not have posed any problem but again lack of application was its weak point. N. Arjun Yadav dug himself in and found Ravichandran Ashwin a willing partner in the rescue act.

Yadav’s face saving 71 (90b, 9x4, 4x6) and Ashwin’s enterprising unbeaten 50 (62b, 5x4, 1x6) and their 103-run association for the sixth wicket turned the match around to take South to 194 for seven in 40 overs.

“Yes, the ball turned but it was not unplayable,” conceded Ashwin. “We failed to apply themselves,” said the bowling all-rounder who hit up his best one-day score.

The scores: At Barabati Stadium: East Zone: W. Saha lbw b Y. Singh 84, N. Behera ct Dewan b Nanda 41, I. Jaggi (not out) 110, M. Tiwary b Bhatia 1, S. Tiwary c Kaul b Malik 52, D. Sharma c Kaul b Sangwan 1, R. Mohanty (hit wkt) b Bhatia 6, D. Goswami (not out) 1; Extras: (lb-3, nb-2, w-4) 9; Total: (for 6 wickets, 50 overs) 305.

Fall of wickets: 1-98, 2-172, 3-173, 4-284, 5-287, 6-294.

North bowling: Malik 10 -0-49-1, Sangwan 10-0-69-1, Beigh 4-0-33-0, Nanda 10-0-49-1, Bhatia 9-0-60-2, Y. Singh 7-0-42-1.

North: A. Chopra lbw b M. Tiwary 58, R. Dewan c Sharma b Goswami 2, V. Kohli c & b Goswami 7, R. Bhatia b Bose 2, U. Kaul c Saha b M. Tiwary 27, Y. Singh lbw b Bose 31, M. Manhas c Sharma b Dinda 58, P. Sangwan c Saha b Goswami 25, C. Nanda c Behera b Goswami 13, S. Beigh b Dinda 9, V. Malik (not out) 1; Extras: (lb-2, nb-1, w-4) 7; Total: (in 49.4 overs) 240.

Fall of wickets: 1-15, 2-31, 3-40, 4-97, 5-103, 6-159, 7-210, 8-219, 9-238.

East bowling: Bose 10-0-53-2, Dinda 10-0-43-2, Goswami 9.4-1-35-4, M. Tiwary 10-0-47-2, Saha 6-0-41-0, Mohanty 4-0-19-0.

At Ravenshaw University ground: Zimbabwe President’s XI: H. Masakadza lbw b Shoaib 15, J. Chibhabha lbw b Shoaib 27, P. Utseya c Sai b Aravind 0, S. Matsikenyeri c Yomahesh b Ashwin 36, F. Mutizwa lbw b Ashwin 40, M. Waller c Yomahesh b Badrinath 5, E. Chigumbura c Yomahesh b Appanna 6, K. Dabengwa st. Sai b Appanna 6, G. Cremer c Sai b Aravind 19, R. Price b Yomahesh 26, E. Rainsford (not out) 0; Extras: (b-4, lb-5, nb-1, w-3) 13; Total: (in 49.5 overs) 193.

Fall of wickets: 1-41, 2-44, 3-44, 4-123, 5-128, 6-138, 7-145, 8-145, 9-193.

South bowling: Shoaib 8-1-27-2, Aravind 10-0-50-2, Yomahesh 5.5-0-18-1, Uthappa 2-0-11-0, Ashwin 10-1-30-2, Appanna 10-1-31-2, Badrinath 4-0-17-1.

South: S. Anirudha c Masakadza b Rainsford 32, R. Uthappa c Chibhabha b Chigumbura 1, S. Badrinath b Masakadza 12, A. Yadav c Chibhabha b Cremer 71, D.B. Ravi Teja lbw b Masakadza 2, Manoj Sai lbw b Chibhabha 12, R. Ashwin (not out) 50, V. Yomahesh c Matsikenyeri b Cremer 0, S. Aravind (not out) 6; Extras: (lb-2, w-6) 8; Total: (for 7 wickets in 40 overs) 194.

Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-41, 3-62, 4-66, 5-80, 6-183, 7-186.

Zimbabwe XI bowling: Rainsford 7-0-37-1, Chigumbura 8-1-50-1, Masakadza 3-0-13-2, Chibhabha 5-1-15-1, Price 6-1-14-0, Utseya 4-0-15-0, Cremer 5-0-31-2, Dabengwa 2-0-17-0.

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