14-Mar-2009 95
Ishank Jaggi hit an unbeaten century to guide host East Zone to a 65-run win over 11-time champions North Zone in a crucial Group-A match of the 36th Deodhar Trophy Cricket Tournament at Barabati Stadium, Cuttack today.
With this win, East Zone almost ensured a place in the final, securing five points, which included one bonus point. The young East Zone side also owed their victory to wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha, middle-order batsman Saurabh Tiwary, opener Natraj Behera and medium pacer Dhiraj Goswami.
Saha missed a century by 14 runs (84 off 98 balls, 4x11), while Saurabh Tiwari cracked half century (52 off 45 balls, 4x4) to enable East pile up a formidable total of 305 for six.
Jaggi’s unconquered 110 (98 balls, 4x10, 6x2) was his second three-figure knock in List-A cricket.
In reply, North never really seemed capable to chasing the target as they lost the first three wickets for 40 runs.
Though opener Akash Chopra (58 off 75) and skipper Manhas (58 off 55) struck a half-century each, fall of wickets at regular intervals eventually saw them getting dismissed for 240.
Assam bowler Dhiraj Goswamy reaped a rich harvest of four wickets for 35 runs, thanks to his nagging accuracy. Speedster Ranadeb Bose, Ashok Dinda and captain Tiwary picked up a brace each.
Toss proved to be the turning point of the match as North captain Mithun Manhas failed to read the wicket and put the opposition into bat.
Capitalising on the mistake, East laid a solid foundation thanks to a 98-run opening-wicket stand between Natraj Behera (41, 49b, 4x8) and Wriddhiman Saha.
Later, Saha and Jaggi consolidated the innings, adding 74 runs for the second wicket.
East Zone’s flourishing innings received two setbacks as Saha and captain Manoj Tiwary were dismissed at the same score of 172. But Jaggi found an able ally in his Jharkhand teammate Saurabh Tiwari and the duo resorted East’s domination by compiling 112 run for the fourth wicket.
Only two players from Orissa (Natraj Behera and Rakesh Mohanty) found places in the East team, which featured four from Bengal, two each from Jharkhand and Assam and one from Tripura. The expectation of Orissa stumper Haladhar Das getting a place as specialist batsman did not materialize.
KOHLI, CHOPRA FINED: North Zone’s 65-run defeat at the hands of East Zone compounded their plight as match referee Hemant Wasu imposed fines on batsmen Virat Kohli and Akash Chopra for misconduct.
``Kohli will lose 50 per cent of his match fee for using abusive language against East Zone pace bowler Dhiraj Goswamy and Chopra will lose 20 per cent for showing descent to umpire Suresh Shastri,’’ Wasu announced after conducting a hearing.
BRIEF SCORE: East Zone 305/6 in 50 overs (Ishank Jagi 110 n.o, Wriddhiman Saha 84, Natraj Behera 41, Saurabh Tiwary 52: Rajat Bhatia 2/60) beat North Zone 240/10 in 49.4 overs (Akash Chopra 58, Mithun Manhas 58: Dhiraj Goswami 4/35, Manoj Tiwary 2/47, Ashok Dinda 2/43, Ranadeb Bose 2/53).
SOUTH PREVAIL OVER ZIMBABWE
South Zone rode on a half-century each by Arjun Yadav and R Ashwin enabled South Zone post a three-wicket victory over Zimbabwe President’s XI in a Group-B match at Ravenshaw University ground and bounce back into the tournament.
Chasing a competitive target of 194, South were in dire straits, losing five wickets for 80. But a precious 103-run partnership for the sixth wicket between Yadav (71 off 90b, 4x9, 6x4) and Ashwin (50 not out off 62b, 4x5, 6x1) helped them stem the rot and win the match with 10 overs to spare.
Earlier electing to bat, the Zimbabweans struggled on a good batting wicket and were bowled out for 193. The innings included only one sizeable partnership of 79 runs for the fourth wicket between Stuwart Matsikeneyari (36) and Foster Mutizwa (40).
The win fetched South Zone five points and revived a glimmer of hope for them to reach the final. But that would be possible only if Zimbabwe secures five points by virtue of a thumping victory in their last group match against favourites West Zone on Monday.
BRIEF SCORE: Zimbabwe President’s XI 193/10 in 49.5 (S Matsikenveri 36, F Mutizwa 40: S Shoaib 2/27, S Aravind 2/50, R Ashwin 2/30, K Appanna 2/31) lost to South Zone 194/7 in 40 overs (Arjun Yadav 71,R Ashwin 50 n.o: Hamilton Masakadza 2/13, Graeme Cremer 2/31).
