Mayank Agarwal makes 98 as South Zone beat West Zone to go top
NEW DELHI: Mayank Agarwal makes 98: Riding on skipper Mayank Agarwal’s fine knock, South Zone secured a nervy 12-run win over West Zone in a Deodhar Trophy match in Puducherry on Wednesday.
Agarwal’s impressive innings of 98 runs from 115 balls, including nine boundaries, guided South Zone to a total of 206. As a result of this win, South Zone climbed to the top of the table with eight points from two matches.
The South Zone bowlers rose to the occasion and restricted West Zone to 194, securing four valuable points for their team.
Agarwal’s fine performance with the bat was instrumental in putting his team in a comfortable position.
Agarwal focused on playing shots on the off-side and accumulated a significant portion of his runs in that area, with 55 runs scored through that region.
Out of his nine boundaries, five came through the third man, behind point, and cover regions, allowing him to take South Zone past the 200-run mark.
Agarwal combined with veteran batter KB Arun Karthick (23) to forge a crucial 50-run partnership for the fifth wicket in just over nine overs.
While Agarwal missed out on a century and fell to Saurashtra’s left-arm spinner Parth Bhut, who was the most successful bowler for West Zone with three wickets for 25 runs in his 10 overs.
With South Zone setting a target of 206, West Zone might have hoped for a straight-forward victory.
However, South Zone’s pace bowlers, Vidwath Kaverappa and Vasuki Koushik, struck early, and the run-out of Ankit Bawane and captain Priyank Panchal further dented West’s chances.
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Despite a fightback from West Zone’s middle-order comprising Sarfaraz Khan (42), Shivam Dube (29), and Atit Sheth (40), who added 65 runs for the sixth wicket, they fell short of the target.
South Zone’s spinners, R Sai Kishore and Washington Sundar, played a vital role in thwarting West’s attempt, sharing five wickets between them as West fell short of the target.
(With PTI inputs)
