Central lock Deodhar Trophy

Central Zone lifted the Deodhar Trophy by defeating South by five wickets at the Rajiv Gandhi Cricket Stadium on Thursday. Central's third consecutive romp with a bonus point took their tally to 15, rendering the remaining four matches in the tournament of academic interest.

After crushing West and North in Bangalore, Central repeated the act against South by skittling them out for 163. Rahul Dravid top-scored again with 51 and it left him "feeling good after the two Deodhar Trophy knocks". One of the few South batsmen to make runs in the tournament, Dravid told HT, "I feel like I am hitting the ball well."

Central overhauled the target in just 36.3 overs with opener Faiz Fazal paving the way for their fifth title in 35 editions with a sound 58 (95b, 8x4). "It's nice to contribute to the victory," was what he had to say on his effort. The South batsmen, barring Dravid and vice-captain Arjun Yadav (45, 62b, 6x4), paid the price for poor shot selection on a pitch that was on the slower side but held few devils. Leg-spinner Piyush Chawla mixed it up well to pick up three for 47 while Praveen Kumar was his usual self, giving early breakthroughs while maintaining a brilliant economy rate (9-2-11-2).

Fazal and Naman Ojha got Central off to a solid start yet again. While Ojha was the aggressor, Fazal was content playing second fiddle. Fazal lost partners along the way but he ensured Central were never in trouble. When he was finally dismissed in the 33rd over with the score at 140, Central were well in sight of the bonus as well.

The big-hitting Rohit Sharma from Rajasthan implemented coach Abhay Sharma's plans, slamming two fours and two sixes in his unbeaten 21 as Central won with 13-and-a-half overs to spare.

"It feels great to win the Deodhar Trophy so early in the competition," said an elated Sharma. "But this is just the start of a journey for Central Zone. I want to take them to a higher level."

The coach said his team implemented the plans that he had chalked out. "Medium-pacer Rajesh Kanojia (3-29) was tuned to bowl a particular line and length. Though this was his first high-profile tournament, he came up trumps." The coach also had words of praise for Ojha and Fazal for delivering the goods after he had worked on the mental aspects of their game.

Manager Gnanendra Pandey was over the moon. "I have never seen such a performance in my long association with the game. The young boys have done the zone proud." After a well deserved break on Holi, Central face East at the same venue on Sunday.

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