Date:20/03/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/03/20/stories/2008032059551900.htm

Sport - Cricket

South Zone takes on a confident Central Zone

Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD: South Zone will seek to clip the wings of Central Zone, soaring on a high of convincing victories, when the two teams meet in the Deodhar Trophy limited-overs cricket match at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, on Thursday.

That may well be easier said than done. A cursory look at the visiting side’s recent record should be a pointer of things to come and could put the host on the back foot. Buoyed by two consecutive wins, Central can draw added strength from the discomfiture of defeat that South suffered in its lone encounter so far — against East Zone and on home turf.

Top order fires

Central’s batting might was amply evident against North Zone, Naman Ojha the architect with a splendid 110. Faiz Fazal demonstrated his touch with a valuable 66, while Suresh Raina chipped in with 42.

The spearhead of that show, R.P. Singh, who brought North down to its knees with a ripping five for 36, will however not turn out for his side here, having been advised rest by the BCCI.

From that Bangalore campaign, another absentee will be Murali Kartik, recovering from a ligament tear. The Central Zone captain, Mohammad Kaif, was nonetheless upbeat on the eve of the contest.

His team would miss the duo, but without them, the youngsters would get an opportunity, he said. Banking on the balance in composition, he was confident his players would consolidate on their fine run to pull off a win here too.

Central’s youth-fuelled charge could however hit a road-block when pitted against the seasoned campaigners in the South squad. V.V.S. Laxman is a doubtful starter under medical advice not to strain his injured left hand.

A prediction may be hazardous, but about prospects of a cracking contest on the cards, there can be little doubt.

The teams (from): South Zone: S. Badrinath (captain), N. Arjun Yadav, Rahul Dravid, V.V.S. Laxman, Bharath Chipli, Robin Uthappa, Gnaneshwara Rao, Dinesh Karthik, M. Vijay, Vinay Kumar, S. Sreesanth, Kalyan Krishna, P.M. Sarvesh Kumar, P. Pragyan Ojha, C. Raghu, Vidyuth Sivaramakrishna, Saurav Bandekar. Coach: Vivek Jaisimha.

Central Zone: Mohd. Kaif (captain), Suresh Raina, Piyush Chawla, R.P. Singh, Tanmay Srivastava, Praveen Kumar, Himalay Sagar, Deepak Yadav, Ravi Jangid, Sandeep Singh, Pankaj Singh, Praveen Gupte, Murali Kartik, Naman Ojha, Faiz Fazal. Coach: Abhay Sharma.