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In a round-robin encounter in the Deodhar Trophy on Sunday, Mayank Agarwal and Sai Sudharsan each scored outstanding half-centuries as South Zone put up an all-around performance to maintain its unbeaten streak and cruise to a five-wicket victory over East Zone.
In South Zone's decisive 230-run chase in 44.2 overs, Agarwal (84) and Sudharsan (53) established a 118-run stand for the second wicket that included 10 fours and two sixes. In contrast to Agarwal, who smashed six fours and a six in 88 balls, Sudharsan's 57-ball innings saw him send the ball four times over the fence and once into the stands.
The bowlers worked as a team to secure the victory, splitting six wickets amongst the seam trio of V Koushik (3/37), Vidhwath Kaverappa (2/40), and Vijaykumar Vyshak (1/62), and the spin combo of Sai Kishore (3/45) and Washington Sundar (1/41). East Zone made the decision to bat, and they got off to a good start thanks to Virat Singh (49) and Subhranshu Senapati (44), but they fell apart after the pair returned to the pavilion and started losing wickets often.
The team was then saved by Akash Deep (44) and Mukhtar Hussain (33), helping East Zone to a respectable result.
East Zone: 229 all out in 46 overs (Virat Singh scoring 49, Akash Deep scoring 44, Subhranshu Senapati scoring 44; V Koushik taking 3 for 37, Sai Kishore taking 3/45)
(Mayank Agarwal 84, Sai Sudarshan 53; Avinov Choudhury 2/58) South Zone: 230 for 5 in 44.2 overs.
