Deodhar Trophy 2023 Highlights, Round 3: Sheth, Gaja help West Zone beat Central Zone by one wicket; South and East win

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Anish: Chintan Gaja keeps his calm in the final over. Sheth does his job of making the ground at the striker’s end on the final ball with one needed of one. West Zone has pulled off a heist to win the match by one wicket.

Chintan Gaja smashes the first ball of the last over for a boundary followed by a couple and finally a single to lead West Zone to a one-wicket win over Central Zone to keep itself alive in the tournament. What a match it has been for the West.

WICKET!

Anish: Mavi gets the danger man!! Was a full slower one on the stumps, foxes Hangargekar and he is bowled. An important knock from Hangargekar nevertheless.

WICKET!

Anish: Part-timer Yash Kothari also joins the party as new batter Parth Bhut is trapped in front. Central two wickets away from the win.

Parth Bhut 0 (5) lbw Y b Kothari

WICKET!

Anish: Karn Sharma breaks the partnership as Mulani is trapped in front. Umpires check for a front-foot no-ball and it seems okay. The ball was full and Mulani played along the wrong line.

Shams Mulani 15 (33) lbw Karn Sharma

Shams Mulani and Atit Sheth take West Indies forward with a steady approach. West Zone is 79 away from the target with 10 overs to go.

WICKET!

Anish: Shivam gets his fourth wicket!! Dube drives a full one straight to the cover fielder. Central Zone very much in control of the match here.

WICKET!

Anish: Sarfaraz tries to take on Shivam, holes out to the long-on fielder. Huge wicket for Central Zone. Sarfaraz was playing the slog sweep regularly trying to counter attack, finds himself walking back.

S N Khan 24 (27) c Madhwal A b Shivam Chaudhary

Shivam Dube and Sarfaraz Khan rebuild for West Zone. Spin from both end continues.

WICKET!

Anish: Desai is caught at fine leg. Tried to go for the sweep, hits it straight to the fielder. Sarwate gets his first wicket. West Zone losses its set batter as Central tighten its grip in the match.

H Desai 57 (86) c A V Choudhary b A A Sarvate

Anish: Harvik Desai brings up his fifty with a six over mid-wicket. West Zone will hope he stays till the end and takes his team home. Sarfaraz and Desai take West past 100 in the process.

WICKET!

Anish: One brings two as Bawne is dismissed in the very next over by Karn Sharma. Bawne misess the cut and the ball hits the top of off.

A R Bawane 0 (5) b Karn Sharma

WICKET!

Anish: Shivam has his second. Tripathi tries to go for the ramp shot, misses it completely. The stumps are rattled behind. He walks back cursing himself for that shot.

R A Tripathi 2 (7) b Shivam Chaudhary

WICKET!

Anish: Shivam Chaudhary into the attack and he gets a wicket first ball. Panchal stares at the pitch in disbelief. The ball stopped on the batter and Panchal provides an easy catch to mid wicket to Rinku SIngh. The drinks break brings a wicket for Central Zone.

Rahul Tripathi, the new man in at number three to join Harvik Desai.

P K Panchal 36 (39) c Rinku Singh b Shivam Chaudhary

Anish: Fifty partnership between the West Zone openers. Harvik Desai and Priyank Panchal have had a careful start to the innings. Desai has started playing his shots in the last 2-3 overs. Central still searching for a breakthrough.

Openers Priyank Panchal and Harvik Desai give sedate start to the West Zone. The duo sees off the new ball attack from Mavi and Choudhary as captain Iyer brings Akash Madhwal in search for first breakthrough.

Harvik Desai and Priyank Panchal open for West Zone in the 244 chase against Centeal Zone. Shivam Mavi and Aniket Choudhary operate with the new ball.

Anish: Shivam Mavi with a handy contribution at the end to take Central to 243. He showed an entire array of shots in the last five overs to get Central to a competitive total. He finished the innings off with a six off Hangargekar.

Abhishek: Four wickets for Riyan Parag as East wraps up North for 249. An 88-run win and East Zone stays unbeaten in the Deodhar Trophy.

WICKET!

A mix-up and Karn has to depart. Excellent effort from Tripathi to dive and make a stop off his own bowling. No chance for Karn to make the crease, even with a dive.

The experienced Karn Sharma playing a good hand for Central Zone here. Has put away the bad balls and rotated the strike to take the total closer to 200. Central will look for a final flourish with only 6 overs left.

WICKET!

This is it, East wins by 88 runs as Mayank Yadav departs on 6. North Zone all out on 249!

Mayank Yadav 6 (8) c Saurabh Tiwary b Shahbaz

WICKET!

Make it nine down for North Zone as Riyan Parag removes set batter Shubham Rohilla on 41 and Sandeep Sharma on duck in three balls in the 43rd over.

S G Rohilla 41 (34) c (Sub) Avinav Choudhury b Riyan Parag;

Sandeep Sharma 0 (2) c Saurabh Tiwary b Riyan Parag

WICKET!

North Zone is falling like a pack of cards as Nishant Sindhu falls on 1 off 7, while Harshit Rana got clean bowled by Shahbaz Nadeem.

Nishant Sindhu 1 (7) c Saurabh Tiwary b Utkarsh Singh

Harshit Rana 12 (11) b Shahbaz

WICKET!

Anish: Dangerman Rinku goes as well. Looks to up the ante but hits it straight to long-on. Mulani has his second.

Rinku Singh 15 (24) c C T Gaja b Shams Mulani

WICKET!

Abhishek: Mandeep Singh falls right after bringing up his half-century. Parag with his second wicket as Mandeep’s sweep gets a leading and goes to Tiwary at fine leg.

Mandeep Singh 50 (52) c Saurabh Tiwary b Riyan Parag

Karn Sharma, the new man in for Central joins Rinku Singh at number seven. They look to rebuild vs. West Zone.

WICKET!

Anish: Venkatesh looks to go big over mid-wicket but holes out to Chintan Gaja at long-on. Central would have wanted its captain to play long and give a push in the final overs, but he has to depart for 43.

Venkatesh Iyer 43 (45) c C T Gaja b Shams Mulani

Abhishek: Shubham Rohilla with a six and a four, both via pull shots to mid-wicket off Utkarsh, has moved to 21 from 15 deliveries. Mandeep too continues to collect the odd boundary. North at 200 now, and still in the hunt.

WICKET!

Anish: Yash Dubey falls for 49. Tried to drive a fuller one and edges it to the keeper. Came in with the team in trouble and played a mature knock. But falls short of his half-century.

Yash Dubey 49(81) ct H Desai b Parth Bhut

WICKET! Abhishek: Nitish Rana perishes trying to reverse sweep Shahbaz Ahmed. A straightforward catch for Murasingh at short third.

Nitish Rana 27(41) ct M B Mura Singh b Shahbaz

Iyer and Dubey help Central to the 100-run mark. Decent recovery so far but a tricky phase lies ahead.

Anish: Captain Venkatesh Iyer has looked busy at the crease. He’s been stepping down the ground and playing his trademark attacking shots. Needs to bat through a few overs to ensure the team gets to a good total.

Abhishek: Mandeep Singh and Nitish Rana showing first signs of attack. Mandeep steps out and lofts it down the ground in Utkarsh Singh’s over. Rana too picks a four with a sweep.

WICKET! The partnership is broken. Upendra Yadav tried to shuffle across and play through the leg-side but misses the flick and is trapped LBW. Gaja gets his first wicket.

Upendra Yadav 26(45) lbw C T Gaja

WICKET! Abhishek Sharma falls on 44. He looks to work the ball on the on side against Mukhtar Hussain but hands a leading edge to short mid-wicket.

Abhishek Sharma 44(52) ct Avinav Choudhury (Sub) b Mukhtar Hussain

Anish from the venue: Yash Dubey and Upendra Yadav have steadied the ship for CZ. The duo attacked Shams Mulani, taking him for 20 in his three overs. Dube has just begun his spell, replacing Mulani.

South Zone crushes North East Zone by nine wickets as Rohan Kunnummal finishes unbeaten on 87 off just 58 balls, with eight fours and five sixes.

WICKET! After his ton, Parag is now chipping in with the ball too. He gets Himanshu Rana to hole out at square leg.

H J Rana 40(48) ct Shahbaz b Riyan Parag

WICKET! Mayank Agarwal is trapped for 32 by Imliwati, ending a 96-run stand with Kunnummal.

Mayank Agarwal 32(46) lbw Imliwati

Rana and Abhishek have stabilised the chase. East continues to fiddle with their bowlers as

41-ball 50 for Rohan Kunnummal as South breezes through the chase against North East.

Abhishek: Himanshu Rana has ensured the North Zone scorecard stays running with four boundaries in his 25-ball stay. Abhishek Sharma at the other end preferring to take a cautious approach and pick singles.

WICKET! Hangargekar removes Shivam Chaudhary. He’s struggled against the moving ball and falls for 1 off 10 deliveries.

Shivam Chaudhary 1(10) ct Shams Mulani b R S Hangargekar

Kunnummal has sped off the blocks with four fours and a six while his senior partner Agarwal has taken a backseat. South off to a firm start.

WICKET! Atit Sheth strikes in the first over for West Zone. He traps Kothari for a three-ball duck.

Y B Kothari 0(3) lbw A Sheth

WICKET! Prabhsimran falls early as Akash Deep strikes in his first over. Huge blow for the North first up.

Prabhsimran Singh 11(9) ct Virat Singh b Akash Deep

Rohan Kunnummal and Mayank Agarwal will hope to make light work of this 137-run chase against North East. Two runs from the opening over.

Prabhsimran Singh and Abhishek Sharma open North’s daunting chase. Manisankar Murasingh opens the attack against East.

Central XI: Aditya Sarvate, A Choudhary, Karn Sharma, Akash Madhwal, Rinku Singh, Shivam Chaudhary, Shivam Mavi, Upendra Yadav (wk), Venkatesh Iyer (c), KB Kothari, Yash Dubey

West XI: Ankeet Bawane, Atit Sheth, Chintan Gaja, Harvik Desai, Priyank Panchal (c), Parth Bhut, Rahul Tripathi, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Sarfaraz Khan, Shams Mulani, Shivam Dube.

From 57-5, East Zone has vaulted to 337-8 for the highest total so far in this edition of the Deodhar Trophy. Thanks to a brilliant counter from Riyan Parag and Kumar Kushagra.

South Zone bundles North East for 136. Another tough outing for the North East side as the South bowlers went about their job in a rather clinical fashion. Three wickets for Kaverappa and Sai Kishore with the others chipping with a wicket apiece.

Kumar Kushagra falls short of a well-deserved hundred! A sensational 235-run stand with Parag ends as Mayank Yadav strikes.

FOURTH WICKET for Mayank. Riyan Parag follows his partner soon after.

Abhshek: Both are bouncers and Parag and Kushagra fall looking to slash them through the off side.

Kumar Kushagra 98(87) ct Prabhsimran Singh b Mayank Yadav; Riyan Parag 131(102) ct Mandeep Singh b Mayank Yadav

Abhishek: Stand and deliver is the mantra for a cramping Riyan Parag. Stays put in his crease and hits three sixes in Sandeep Sharma’s over. On the third, Abhishek Sharma catches him at deep mid wicket but momentum takes him beyond the boundary line. A last ditch effort to throw it up and gather on the second go is no use.

Parag and Kushagra also raise their 200-run partnership!

A superb counter-attacking century for Riyan Parag against a quality attack. He reaches the mark off just 84 balls with four fours and eight maximums.

Deodhar Trophy 2023: Riyan Parag hits 84-ball hundred, smashes record 11 sixes

Deodhar Trophy 2023: Riyan Parag struck eight sixes and waltzed to a 84-ball century, lifting East Zone from a precarious top-order collapse against North Zone in Puducherry.

Sai Kishore runs through the top-order with two successive wickets. Matter of minutes before the innings folds?

Imliwati 1(6) ct & b R Sai Kishore; Lee Yong Lepcha 4(14) b R Sai Kishore

Abhishek: Kumar Kushagra joins the party now. Steps down the track, gets to the pitch and lofts it straight back over Abhishek Sharma for six runs.

Riyan Parag’s in the zone. He’s smashed eight sixes on his way to 79 off 66 deliveries.

WICKET! Washington Sundar traps Rex for 14 and finds his first wicket. North East heading towards a fateful finish.

Abhishek: Riyan Parag dropped on 53 at long off. Abhishek Sharma overpitches and Parag lets his levers free only to get it off his toe. Sandeep Sharma comes running in, gets to the ball but lets it slip out.

Parag moves to 60 with six maximums.

WICKET! Kaverappa returns to the attack and scalps two quick wickets.

Captain Langlonyamba and Palzor fall in succession in an over.

Langlonyamba M 23(63) ct N Jagadeesan b Vidwath Kaverappa ; Palzor 0(3) ct Mayank Agarwal b Vidwath Kaverappa

FIFTY for Riyan Parag off 38 balls!

“Parag tonks back-to-back sixes off Markande to get to his fifty. He’s given a much needed impetus to East Zone,” Abhishek

Riyan Parag has stormed to 37 in no time on the back of three sixes and a four. Kushagra has pushed himself to 20 as well and East has managed to stage a decent recovery before the halfway mark.

Captain Langlonyamba and Priyojit continue to fend off the South bowlers with a slow partnership. They have consumed 67 deliveries to assume 24 runs so far.

Abhishek: East with a counter punch. Kumar Kushagra hits two boundaries in Mayank Yadav’s over. The first is cut through point and then second driven through covers.

Riyan Parag then gets an overpitched delivery from Mayank Markands which he parks over long off.

WICKET! Second wicket for Mayank Yadav. Skipper Saurabh Tiwary falls for 16.

“A soft dismissal as Tiwary chips one to short mid wicket,” says Abhishek.

Saurabh Tiwary 16(30) ct H J Rana b Mayank Yadav

WICKET! Mayank Yadav continues to impress and he snaps up Senapati in his second over.

Subhransu Senapati 13(17) ct Prabhsimran Singh b Mayank Yadav

Sai Kishore clears the brief rearguard in his first over. He cleans up Ashish Thapa for 8.

Ashish Thapa 8(21) b R Sai Kishore

WICKET! Harshit Rana’s on a roll.

Abhishek from the venue: Virat Singh pokes at a delivery outside off and offers a catch to Prabhsimran Singh behind the stumps. North Zone on top here.

Two new batters out there in Subhranshu Senapati and captain Saurabh Tiwary.

Virat Singh 2(7) ct Prabhsimran Singh b Harshit Rana

WICKET! Sandeep Sharma removes Utkarsh Singh early. East loses both openers inside the opening ten overs.

“Utkarsh perishes. He wants to pull a back of a length ball but gets a top edge. SG Rohilla at short mid-wicket gets under the ball for a simple catch,” pings Abhishek.

Utkarsh Singh 11(20) ct S G Rohilla b Sandeep Sharma

WICKET! Harshit Rana draws first blood for North as he dismisses Abhimanyu Easwaran.

A R Easwaran 10(16) ct Prabhsimran Singh b Harshit Rana

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Abhishek Saini from the venue: North’s Harshit Rana troubles Utkarsh Singh with bounce. Hits the deck hard and gets a couple to seam away as well. East Zone off to a steady start otherwise. Abhimanyu Easwaran’s punch off Sandeep Sharma down the ground has been the highlight so far.

WICKET. Arjun Tendulkar bags his first wicket on Deodhar Trophy debut. He finds the edge off Ahlawat after Kaverappa dislodges Lamichaney.

Nilesh Lamichaney 9(8) b Vidwath Kaverappa;Anup Ahlawat 2(14) ct N Jagadeesan b Arjun Tendulkar

Abhimanyu Easwaran and Utkarsh Singh walk out for East Zone. A fine seam attack to counter with Sandeep Sharma and Harshit Rana opening the attack.

Nilesh Lamichaney and Anup Ahlawat open the batting for North East. The in-form Vidwath Kaverappa takes the new ball for South Zone.

Toss: North East Zone wins toss, opts to bat

South Zone Playing XI: Mayank Agarwal, N Jagadeesan, Rohan Kunnummal, Devdutt Padikkal, KB Arun Karthick, Rohit Rayudu, Sai Kishore, Washington Sundar, Vidwath Kaverappa, Arjun Tendulkar, V Vyshak

North East Playing XI: Abhishek, Anup Ahlawat, Ashish Thapa, Imliwati, Langlonyamba M (C), Lee Yong Lepcha, Nabam Abo, Nilesh Lamichaney, Palzor, Rex Rajkumar, Priyojit K

Toss: East Zone wins toss, opts to bat

North Zone XI: Abhishek Sharma, Himanshu Rana, Prabhsimran Singh, Mandeep Singh, Nitish Rana, Mayank Yadav, Mayank Markande, Sandeep Sharma, SG Rohilla, Nishant Sindhu, Harshit Rana

East Zone XI: Abhimanyu Easwaran, Virat Singh, Kumar Kushagra (wk), Saurabh Tiwary (c), Mukhtar Hussain, Riyan Parag, Subhranshu Senapati, Shahbaz Ahmed, Utkarsh Singh, Manisankar Murasingh, Akash Deep.

Most Runs

• Mayank Agarwal - 162 runs in two innings
• Abhimanyu Easwaran - 138 runs in two innings
• Prabhsimran Singh - 123 runs in two innings

Most Wickets

• Vidwath Kaverappa - 6 wickets in two matches
• Shahbaz Ahmed - 5 wickets in two matches
• Nitish Rana - 5 wickets in two matches

West Zone, led by Priyank Panchal, will look to bounce back from the narrow 12-run loss to South Zone when it faces a winless Central Zone in the Deodhar Trophy at the Siechem Stadium in Puducherry on Friday.

West Zone bundled out South Zone for 206 in the previous game after opting to bowl first. Parth Bhut was the standout bowler, picking up three wickets, including that of the opposition skipper Mayank Agarwal, who top-scored with 98.

West Zone lost three quick wickets in reply but a run-a-ball 42 from Sarfaraz Khan followed by a solid partnership between Atit Sheth and Shivam Dube put the team in a comfortable position. However, it lost the remaining wickets for 33 runs, falling agonisingly short of the target.

Central Zone, on the other hand, couldn’t get across the line in its chase of 308 against North Zone, handing it a second straight loss in the tournament. Top order batters Shivam Chaudhary, Yash Dubey and Upendra Yadav scored half-centuries but the middle order was dismissed cheaply, leading to a 48-run defeat.

Central Zone captain Venkatesh Iyer hasn’t been among the runs in this tournament and looked rusty during his brief stay at the crease against North Zone, which is a cause for concern. Opener Madhav Kaushik has also seen a lean run of form since his hundred for Uttar Pradesh against Nagaland in the Ranji Trophy in December 2022. READ MORE

- Anish Pathiyil

• North Zone vs East Zone - 9 AM IST
• South Zone vs North East Zone - 9 AM IST
• Central Zone vs West Zone - 1:30 PM IST (Streamed on BCCI website and app)

A buoyant North Zone side will look to derail an unbeaten East Zone as the teams face off at the Cricket Association Puducherry (CAP) Ground 3 in round three of the Deodhar Trophy here on Friday.

North banished the ghosts of a meek collapse in its opener against South Zone, with a 48-run victory versus Central Zone on Wednesday. Opener Prabhsimran Singh slammed a century and Nitish Rana added 51 to catapult North to 307, putting the side’s campaign back on track.

Mandeep Singh and Nishant Sindhu’s run-a-ball contributions in the middle order further reposed faith that the previous match’s collapse was merely a blip.

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With one eye on mending its net run rate, currently an underwhelming -1.950, North might opt to take the attack to its opposition again.

Doing so, however, will be an uphill task against an in-form bowling unit that has constructed two wins for East. ​ READ MORE​

- Abhishek Saini