North prevails in thriller

CHENNAI, JAN. 1. North Zone, the Col. C.K. Nayudu Trophy champion, defeated Rest of India by three wickets in the Vinoo Mankad Trophy limited-overs fixture at the Chidambaram Stadium, here on Saturday.

Southpaw Yuveraj Singh (36 not out, 28b, 3x4) guided North during the crucial phase when it needed 39 off 31 balls with four wickets in hand. This after Rest skipper, off-spinner Y. Venugopala Rao (five for 37), had put the brakes on it claiming Ravneet Ricky, R.S. Sodhi, Gautam Gambhir and S.P. Singh in the space of 12 deliveries conceding just six runs. Earlier openers Ricky (66, 112b, 6x4) and Manish Sharma (76, 113b, 9x4) had provided the side with a 141-run start.

Yuveraj added 18 off 13 deliveries for the seventh wicket with Ishan Gainda, and 24 in 12 balls with another left- hander Chetan Sharma (17) for the unbroken eighth wicket. Chetan slammed 14 runs - a six and two boundaries - off off-spinner Manish Mishra to seal the victory.

Earlier, Rest of India, opting to bat, made 223 for seven in the allotted 50 overs. Prashant Joshi top-scored with 95 (137m, 108b, 6x4, 1x6). Mediumpacer Ravneet Ricky took two wickets.

National selector Mr. T.A. Sekar gave away the Col. C.K. Nayudu Trophy while Mr. S. Ganesan, Vice-President, TNCA, gave away the Vinoo Mankad Trophy.

The junior National selection committee has added Ravneet Ricky (North), Arjun Yadav (South), Anshu Kapoor (Central) and Prashant Joshi (West) to the existing junior World Cup probables, who number 29 now. The camp for probables commences on Sunday and the Indian team will be picked on Jan. 3.

lThe scores: Rest of India 223 for seven in 50 overs (Prashant Joshi 95, Y. Venugopala Rao 38, Sushant Manjrekar 41 not out) lost to North Zone 227 for seven in 49 overs (Ravneet Ricky 66, Manish Sharma 76, Yuveraj Singh 36 not out, Venugopala Rao five for 37).

- Our Sports Reporter

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