BHUBANESWAR 14-Feb-2012 200
East Zone cricket team, led by Odisha batsman Natraj Behera, made history by winning its maiden Duleep Trophy title, trouncing Cenral Zone in the final by an innings and 20 runs at Holkar Cricket Stadium in Indore today. Bengal wicketkeeper-batsman emerged as the man of the match, hitting a majestic 170.
East Zone entered the final by taking first innings lead against North Zone in their semifinal match, which ended in a draw at Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi on February 7. Earlier in the quarterfinal at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Stadium, Valsad, East Zone upset West Zone by five wickets.
East skipper Behera starred in the victory over West, hitting a century in the first innings and 34 in the second. He was adjudged the player of the match. All-rounder Biplab Samantaray and medium-pacer Basant Mohanty, other two Odisha players in the East Zone team, made modest contributions in all three matches. Former Odisha Test swing bowler Debasis Mohanty, who was the coach of the East Zone team, also played an important role in the title triumph.
Elated by the valuable contributions of the four Odisha members of the East Zone team, Odisha Cricket Association announced a cash award Rs 1 lakh each of them.
BRIEF SCORES:
QUARTERFINAL (Jan 27 to 30):
West Zone 314/10 in 91.5 overs (S A Yadav 134, Cheteswar Pujara 55, R Motwani 45; A Dinda 4/85, AN Ahmed 3/61, Basant Mohanty 1/39) and 201/10 in 46.1 overs (AM Nayar 58, RH Motwani 37, KR Pawar 37, SA Yadav 34, AT Rayudu 26; AN Ahmed 3/31, A Dinda 3/82, S Nadeem 2/28, Basant Mohanty 2/60) lost to East Zone 343/10 in 132.2 overs (Natraj Behera 130, Anustup Majumdar 102 n.o, DS Jadhav 38, Biplab Samantaray 37; S Fallah 3/53, SA Yadav 2/4, AA Darekar 2/73, SM Maniar 2/81) and 173/5 in 56.3 overs (Natraj Behera 34, MS Vardhan 31, Biplab Samantaray 27 n.o, AP Majumdar 26 n.o, DS Jadhav 26; AA Darekar 5/87).
SEMIFINAL (Feb 4 to 7):
East Zone 315/10 in 104.1 overs (Wriddhiman Saha 124, Ishank Jaggi 86, DS Jadhav 33; P Awana 6/84, R Bhatia 3/45) and 319/5 decl in 94.2 overs (A Majumdar 144, M Vardhan 125; P Sangwan 3/78) drew with North Zone 287/10 in 105 overs (Mandeep Singh 55, M Sidhana 46, R Bhatia 45, P Dogra 43, S Dhawan 40; A Dinda 8/123, Basant Mohanty 2/46) and 126/3 in 33 overs (R Dewan 45, S Dhawan 38; S Nadeem 2/51).
FINAL (Feb 12 to 14, 2012):
Central Zone 133/10 in 49.3 overs (Naman Ojha 44, Piyush Chawla 26, Ashok Dinda 4/29, Shami Ahmed 4/73, Basant Mohanty 2/22) and 217/10 in 61 overs (Jalaj Saxena 46, Mohnish Mishra 44, Naman Ojha 36, B Kumar 29; Shami Ahmed 4/50, A Dinda 3/94, S Nadeem 2/12) lost to East Zone 370/10 in 110.1 overs (Wriddhiman Saha 170, Anustup Majumdar 52, Natraj Behera 46, Biplab Samantaray 41; P Chawla 3/73, T Sudhindra 3/74, B Kumar 3/80).
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PHOTO: East Zone skipper Natraj Behera receives the Duleep Trophy in Indore on Feb 14, 2012.
