West Zone’s reign in the Deodhar Trophy continued as it clinched the crown for the third time on the trot at the Dr. Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy stadium here on Thursday.
Opting to bat, North’s top order went the distance for a commanding 281 for three that North found was way beyond it’s reach, grinding to a halt at 148. Given its batting arsenal, North’s pursuit wasn’t exactly promising, Gautam Gambhir’s inside edge off Bumrah uprooting the left-hander’s leg stump, an ominous sign of things to come. Rajat Paliwal, the century-maker against Central, didn’t last long either, nicking Unadkat’s angled delivery to stumper Parthiv Patel.
If the top order’s prospects were bleak, the middle was even more brittle, the procession to the pavilion seemingly persistent. Dhawal Kulkarni, whose line was as lean as his frame, held sway like he did in the semifinals. The other bowlers were equally competent.
Earlier, West launched its innings from a firm foundation laid by Kedar Devdhar, despite fellow opener Parthiv’s early exit.
Destructive DevdharJoined by Pujara, the diminutive Devdhar cut loose, nine boundaries and a six adorning his 101-ball 94.
The duo added 144 runs off 178 balls before Devdhar was trapped in front by Nehra.
Pujara showed the responsibility he’s renowned for, his first boundary coming up only to register his half century.
The pair of Ambati Rayudu and Yusuf Pathan pumped up the pace in the slog overs, the latter heaving twice over the long on fence, while the former was equally brisk, his 39-ball 46 containing five hits to the boundary.
The scores: West Zone: Kedar Devdhar lbw b Nehra 94, Parthiv Patel c Paliwal b Dhawan 13, Cheteshwar Pujara b Dhawan 75, Ambati Rayudu (not out) 46, Yusuf Pathan (not out) 32; Extras (b-4, lb-6, w-11): 21; Total (for three wkts. in 50 overs): 281.
Fall of wickets: 1-37, 2-181, 3-214.
North bowling: Ashish Nehra 10-2-49-1, Siddarth Kaul 7-0-56-0, Ishant Sharma 10-0-52-0, Rishi Dhawan 11-1-46-2, Harbhajan Singh 7-0-36-0, Parveez Rasool 5-0-32-0.
North Zone: Nitin Saini c Yusuf Pathan b Kulkarni 32, Gautam Gambhir b Bumrah 11, Mandeep Singh st. Parthiv b Vasavada 37, Rajat Paliwal c Parthiv b Unadkat 1, Parveez Rasool run out 6, Gurkeerat Singh b Akshar 4, Rishi Dhawan c Parthiv b Akshar 7, Harbhajan Singh run out 14, Ashish Nehra b Vasavada 18, Ishant Sharma c Yusuf Pathan b Vasavada 8, Siddarth Kaul (not out) 0; Extras (lb-2, w-8 ): 10; Total (in 37.1 overs): 148.
Fall of wickets: 1-48, 2-60, 3-66, 4-84, 5-98, 6-100, 7-110, 8-127, 9-147.
West bowling: Jayadev Unadkat 8-0-40-1, Jasprit Bumrah 7-0-31-1, Dhawal Kulkarni 8-0-32-1, Akshar Patel 8-0-23-2, Arpit Vasavada 6.1-0-20-3.
