Deodhar Trophy 2023: South Zone beat East Zone by 5 wickets

Mayank Agarwal and Sai Sudharsan came up with superb half-centuries as South Zone produced an allround show to continue its unbeaten run, coasting to a comfortable five-wicket win over East Zone in a round-robin match of the Deodhar Trophy here on Sunday.

Agarwal (84) and Sudharsan (53) shared an 118-run partnership for the second wicket, studded with 10 fours and two sixes, in South Zone's emphatic 230-run chase in 44.2 overs.

While Agarwal slammed six fours and a six in 88 balls, his partner Sudharsan send the ball four times across the fence and deposited it at the stands once in his 57-ball knock.

Once they were back in the hut, N Jagadeesan (32) and Rohit Rayudu (24) kept their chase on track.

South Zone was atop the points table with four wins in as many games, while East Zone are placed second with 3 wins in 4 matches.

The win was set up by a collective effort from the bowlers with seam trio of V Koushik (3/37), Vidhwath Kaverappa (2/40) and Vijaykumar Vyshak (1/62) sharing six wickets, while spin duo of Sai Kishore (3/45) and Washington Sundar (1/41) taking four.

Electing to bat, Virat Singh (49) and Subhranshu Senapati (44) gave East Zone a good start but they suffered a collapse after the duo were back to the pavilion, losing regular wickets.

Akash Deep (44) and Mukhtar Hussain (33) then rescued the team, taking East Zone to a respectable score.

Brief Score: East Zone: 229 allout in 46 overs (Virat Singh 49, Akash Deep 44, Subhranshu Senapati 44; V Koushik 3/37, Sai Kishore 3/45) South Zone: 230 for 5 in 44.2 overs (Mayank Agarwal 84, Sai Sudarshan 53; Avinov Choudhury 2/58).