West Zone effected as many as six run-outs before beating defending champions South Zone by two runs in a thrilling limited-overs Deodhar Trophy cricket match at the Keenan Stadium in Jamshedpur on Monday.
Chasing 248 runs for victory, South Zone were bundled out for 245 runs in 50 overs after losing four wickets, all through run-outs, in the space of 13 runs.
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South Zone started the chase confidently, with Sadagoppan Ramesh (42, 3x4) and Vidyut Sivaramkrishnan (47) fetching 98 runs for the opening stand. But Nilesh Kulkarni, who came in for an injured Sairaj Bahutule, struck in the 17th over, having Sivaramkrishnan (47) caught by Vinayak Mane. Sivaramkrishnan scored 47, including three hits to the fence, after facing 50 deliveries.
Ramesh, who notched a brilliant 97 against Central Zone in the opener at Silchar, misread a delivery from off-spinner Ramesh Pawar only to see the bails dislodged.
New man S Sriram scored a fine 54, with the help of three fours, and put on 45 runs for the fourth wicket with Arjun Yadav (13).
But South Zone, who needed 30 runs off the same number of balls at one stage, threw away the match as their batsmen were run-out one after the other.
Earlier, electing to bat first after winning the toss, West Zone scored a competitive 247 for seven, built around a 103-run knock by Hrishikesh Kanitkar.
Karnataka seamer Doda Ganesh bowled a tidy spell, restricting the West Zone run spree even as last year's runners-up lost opener Niranjan Godbole (0) and Vinod Kambli (3) cheaply.
Opener Vinayak Mane (27) resisted the southern team's attack, led by Ganesh and Tinu Yohanan, but could not last in the company of the in-form Kanitkar. Mane misread a delivery from S Suresh and edged a catch to former national stumper and South skipper MSK Prasad.
Nishit Shetty, who stepped in following Mane's dismissal, and Kanitkar, faced the South attack confidently to stitch a valuable 128 runs for the fourth wicket stand before spinner Y Venugopal Rao had Shetty bowled for 47, studded with five hits to ropes.
Ganesh polished of the middle-order with his accurate line and length but Kanitkar managed to hit up 103 despite the fall of wickets at the other end. Rajit Khirid (34) gave Kanitkar ample support before Vidyut Sivramkrishnan had him caught in the mid-wicket region off Ganesh.
West Zone, who lost to East Zone by one wicket in a thrilling tournament opener at Siliguri, have four points while South Zone, having won against Central Zone at Silchar, have five points from two matches.
Scoreboard
West Zone:
V Mane c MSK Prasad b Suresh 27
N Godbole c&b Yohanan 0
V Kambli c MSK prasad b Ganesh 3
H Kanitkar b Ganesh 103
N Shetty b Y Venugopal Rao 47
R Khirid c Sivaramkrishnan b Ganesh 34
R Pawar c Yadav b Ganesh 3
M Mewada not out 1
N Kulkarni not out 0
Extras: (b-8, lb-4, nb-4, wb-13) 29
Total: (for 7 wkts, off 50 overs) 247
Fall of wickets: 1-12, 2-28, 3-44, 4-172, 5-233, 6-246, 7-247.
Bowling: D Ganesh 10-2-39-4, T Yohanan 8-0-38-1, K S Sahabuddin 6-0-35-0, S Suresh 7-0-26-1, S K Nair 9-0-50-0, Y V Rao 10-0-47-1.
South Zone:
S Ramesh b Pawar 42
V Sivaramkrishnan c Mane b Kulkarni 47
S Sriram c Mewada b Patel 54
Y V Rao run out 10
A Yadavc&b Pawar 13
S Suresh run out 22
MSK Prasadrun out 4
S Nair run out 22
K S Sahabuddin run out 0
D Ganesh not out 6
T Yohanan run out 0
Extras: (b-6, lb-6, nb-4, wb-9) 25
Total: (all out in 50 overs) 245
Fall of wickets: 1-98, 2-104, 3-127, 4-172, 5-185, 6-191, 7-232, 8-232, 9-243
Bowling: Munaf Patel 10-0-46-1, Siddharth Trivedi 4-0-27-0, Ranjit Khirid 7-0-34-0, N Kulkarni 9-0-46-1, Ramesh Pawar 10-0-36-2, H Kanitkar 7-1-27-0 N Shetty 3-0-17-0.
