Sai Sudharshan's 132* Helps South Zone Beat Central Zone, Enter Deodhar Trophy Final

South Zone stormed into the final of the Deodhar Trophy after Sai Sudharsan's unbeaten 132 set up a commanding seven-win over Central Zone on Tuesday. South Zone will now take on East Zone in the final to be played here on Thursday. South Zone's win was also their fifth in a row, putting them far ahead of the competition with 20 points. East Zone, who recorded four wins and a loss from five round-robin matches, finished second with 16 points after a huge 157-run win over West Zone earlier in the day. After Central Zone managed 261 for nine in 50 overs having elected to bat first, Sudharsan anchored the chase for his side.

For the left-handed Sudharsan, it was another successful outing with the bat as he had earlier scored a fine 53 against East Zone in his first appearance in the competition.

South Zone did not find the target of 261 daunting at all, even though their captain Mayank Agarwal retired hurt without facing a delivery.

Opening batter Rohan Kunnummal fell after a 27-ball 23 with three fours and a six while Narayan Jagadeesan also could not convert his start, walking back for 19.

But Sudharsan, who dropped the anchor in the middle, found strong support in Rohit Rayudu (37) and Washington Sundar (43 not out) to take his side over the line, in the 49th over.

South Zone won the contest with eight balls and seven wickets to spare.

Earlier in the first half, Yash Dubey top scored with 77 (99 balls, 5x4s, 1x6s) but plenty of the other Central Zone batters failed to convert.

Shivam Chaudhary made a run-a-ball 34, whereas wicketkeeper-batter Upendra Yadav and Rinku Singh perished for identical scores of 26.

To their credit, the Central Zone lower-order did a commendable job to take their team as far as they could.

Saran