South Zone

Bangalore, Feb 23:

Goa v Hyderabad

Ashish Reddy emerged Hyderabad’s all-round hero as they chased down a mammoth 310 against Goa. The medium-pacer followed up his five-wicket haul (five for 68) with a mind boggling batting performance (66* runs off 27 balls) to secure a five-wicket win for his side. Goa’s SwapnilAsnodkar (127 from 124 balls) had a gut-wrenching day as his century went in vain. Chasing 311, Hyderabad needed a big score from one of their top-order batsman, which was provided by skipper Dwarka Ravi Teja (119* off 117 balls) before Reddy set the stadium ablaze with eight sixes and a four.

Kerala v Andhra Pradesh

Led by a five-for from PrasanthParameswaran (five for 27 in 10 overs), Kerala defeated Andhra by three wickets. After being put into bat, Andhra batsmen responded well with a competitive total of 278 for 9 with contributions from Syed Sahabuddin (53), VenugopalRao (68) and GK Chiranjeevi (53). The target, however, proved too easy for Kerala who were bolstered by a solid 78-run knock by Sachin Baby. Baby’s innings with some other effective contributions ensured Kerala got home with two balls and three wickets to spare.

Tamil Nadu v Karnataka

Dinesh Karthik’s stroke-filled 137 (132 balls) enabled Tamil Nadu to an eventually match-winning score of 270 for 7 in 50 overs. AbhimanyuMithun scalped three wickets as he received little support from his fellow bowlers. Karnataka’s chase never got on track as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Sunil Raju top-scored with 46 as the team was dismissed for 208 in 47.3 overs. Robin Uthappa started off well with 35 off 28 balls before losing his wicket to RajamaniJesuraj. TN skipper L Balaji (three for 49) led the way as his team won by 62 runs.

West Zone

Mumbai, Feb 23:

Saurashtra v Maharashtra

After 100 overs of a run-fest, Maharashtra edged out Saurashtra by two runs at the BKC in Mumbai. Riding on centuries from RohitMotwani (101) and AnkitBawne (117), Maharashtra reached a mammoth 310 runs for five wickets. Saurashtra’s opening batsman SandeepJogiyani (106) responded with an intent-filled century even as wickets kept tumbling at the other end. Jogiyani found an aide in the form of No.8 batsman ChiragJani, who came to the party with a 67-ball 98* (10 fours and six 6s). Jani’sblitzkrieg almost took Saurashtra over the line but Maharashtra’s bowlers held their nerves in the tense final overs to deny the visitors. Maharashtra’s Akshay Darekar (three for 44 in 10 overs) was the best bowler in the match otherwise dominated by batsmen.

Mumbai v Gujarat

Mumbai (233 for 9) beat Gujarat (225 for 9) by 8 runs.

Full report here

Central Zone

Nagpur, Feb 23:

Madhya Pradesh v Railways

Medium-pacer ShailenderGehlot (six for 20) annihilated Madhya Pradesh single-handedly to hand Railways a thumping nine-wicket win at Jamtha. The MP batting line-up, that succumbed for 48 runs in 17.3 overs, looked completely out of sorts as batsmen kept edging the ball behind the stumps. Wicketkeeper Mahesh Rawat pouched seven catches, four of which came of Gehlot’s bowling. KrishnakantUpadhyay chipped in with three wickets as Rameez Khan (14) finished as the only MP batsman to reach double figures. Railways overhauled the miniscule 49-run target in 10 overs, losing one wicket in the process.

Uttar Pradesh v Rajasthan

The decision to bat first didn’t bode well for Rajasthan, who suffered a six-wicket defeat at the hands of UP. RashmiParida (57) was Rajasthan’s lone half-centurion as the rest failed to capitalize on the starts. Imtiyaz Ahmed and PiyushChawla picked three wickets each for UP as they dismissed Rajasthan for 202. Mohammad Kaif scored a characteristic 79* and Chawla contributed with 63 as UP scored the required 203 runs in 38.1 overs for the loss of four wickets.