East Zone v North Zone, Rajkot, 4th day

North gain massive win

Cricinfo staff

February 14, 2008

North Zone 360 (Manhas 88, Nanda 58, Mishra 52, Paul 5-106) and 459 for 2 (Chopra 205*, Manhas 205*) beat East Zone 143 (Saha 56, VRV 5-59) and 243 (Vardhan 83, Majumdar 82) by 433 runs
Scorecard

A match that looked to be heading for a draw swung North Zone's way spectacularly, as East Zone crashed from a position of safety to a crushing 434-run defeat on day four in Rajkot. Chasing a mammoth 677 for victory East had progressed to 238 for 3, thanks to gritty half-centuries from Manish Vardhan and Anustup Majumdar, but a run out opportunity shortly before tea triggered the most dramatic of collapses, and six wickets fell for just five runs.

East began the day on 28 for 1 and with little chance of winning this game and stopping North from entering the final. They were soon 70 for 3 but Vardhan and Majumdar applied themselves admirably to defy North for over 40 overs. Both refrained from risky singles and instead collected useful boundaries as North's attack lost a bit of fight.

But late into the second session, it all came apart. Vardhan worked the ball to midwicket and called for a single; substitute fielder Joginder Sharma swooped in, collected cleanly, and nailed a direct hit to get rid of Majumdar for a well-made 82.

What happened next was unbelievable - first-innings hero VRV Singh and Amit Mishra, the legspinner, ran loops around the lower order. VRV forced Halhadar Das to pop a catch to Joginder, Mishra snapped up Vardhan for 83, VRV cleaned up Tushar Saha and the tail had no answer.

North will now face West Zone from February 19-23 at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium.

© Cricinfo

Add to del.icio.us | digg this | Stumble It What's this? If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content on cricket, you may use these buttons. When you add them to any of these sites, you "social bookmark" them for others to find and rate. More on del.icio.us>> More on digg>> More on stumbleupon>> Close

Current Cricinfo fantasy games - SL v Ind, Eng v SA & County Cricket Login and check the standings Live scores, results, news, features and more - a click away Download the Cricinfo Toolbar Live scores, ball-by-ball commentary & news direct to your phone Cricinfo's mobile services

Stories

3rd day bulletin

Matches

East Zone v North Zone at Rajkot

Players/Umpires

Anustup Majumdar

Amit Mishra

Vikram Singh

Manish Vardhan

Series/Tournaments

Duleep Trophy

India Domestic Season

Teams

India