North ground South to forge ahead

MUMBAI, DEC 5: The victory margin of 227 runs was ample evidence of the yawning disparity between the two sides. It would have been a tra...

MUMBAI, DEC 5: The victory margin of 227 runs was ample evidence of the yawning disparity between the two sides. It would have been a travesty of justice if North Zone had not won the Duleep Trophy opener. They showed purpose and perseverance unlike South Zone, who appeared to be simply going through the motions.

North needed just over two hours, on the fifth and final day at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday morning, to seal the match in their favour.South’s resistance caved in once wicket-keeper Somasekhar Shiraguppi (51) chopped Ashish Nehra onto his stumps. Four others followed suit for the addition of as many runs and the match as a contest had turned into a lop-sided affair.

Vijay Bharadwaj (49), who partnered Shiraguppi in South’s best association of the match (85 runs in 27.5 overs), battled along defiantly before he too succumbed to medium-pacer Harvinder Singh.

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Robin Singh (17) clouted off-spinner Virender Sehwag for a straight six. However, the South vice-captain did little to justify hisreputation, falling in an attempt to do an encore off the same bowler.

Harvinder sent down four successive maiden overs to Bharadwaj which ensured that Robin didn’t face a single delivery from the man who had struck him on the face in the first innings.

But for the six struck by last man Narendra Pal Singh, Harvinder’s parsimonious spell for the day read: 9-4-11-2.

While North’s gains were substantial, South could just gloat over Hanumara Ramkishen’s display. The 27-year-old Andhra left-arm medium-pacer bagged ten wickets (10-182) in the match despite injuring his right hand which needed five stitches.

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North were well served by the astute leadership of Vikram Rathour, besides Delhi all-rounder Sehwag and Amit Bhandari. The two 20-year-olds, who had represented India at the under-19 World Cup early this year, have clearly exhibited their big-match temperament and should be a force to reckon with.

Scoreboard

North Zone (1st innings): 225

South Zone (1st innings): 254-9 decl

North Zone(2nd innings): 445-9 decl

South Zone (2nd innings; overnight 124-4): Sujit Somasunder c Jitender Singh b Bhandari 11 (56b, 91m, 2×4), Arvind Shetty b Bhandari 36 (62b, 103m, 6×4), Sridharan Sriram b Bhandari 0 (5b, 3m), Vijay Bharadwaj c Dahiya b Harvinder Singh 49 (134b, 203m, 9×4), Sridharan Sharath c Dahiya b Nehra 3 (8b, 15m), Somasekhar Shiraguppi b Nehra 51 (86b, 119m, 7×4), Robin Singh st Dahiya b Sehwag 17 (34b, 38m, 2×4, 1×6), K Ananthapadmanabhan c Dahiya b Harvinder Singh 0 (3b, 4m), Venkatapathy Raju b Sehwag 1 (3b, 4m), Hannumara Ramkishen not out 0 (29b, 31m), Narender Pal Singh st Dahiya b Jain 9 (14b, 20m, 1×6); Extras: (5b, 1lb, 6nb) 12. Total: (all out in 69.5 overs, 321 mins) 189Fall of wickets: 1-45, 2-46, 3-59, 4-69, 5-154, 6-172, 7-173, 8-174, 9-176Bowling: Harvinder 19-7-57-2, Nehra 21-6-45-2, Bhandari 14-1-40-3 (6nb), Jain 6.5-2-14-1, Sehwag 9-2-27-2

Result: North Zone won by 227 runs.

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