NAGPUR: South Zone and North Zone got off to flying start in the JK Bose T20 Cricket tournament, organised by the Sports Journalists’ Federation of India (SJFI) here. While South Zone toppled West Zone by eight wickets at Dr Ambedkar College ground, North Zone recorded a thrilling three-wicket win over East Zone at Vasant Nagar ground.
Batting first, West Zone posted 136 for the loss of four wickets. Ripple Christi (36) was the top scorer. Sanjeev Samyal made a valuable contribution of 33 runs. K Lakshman was the pick of the bowlers. He scalped two wickets giving away 14 runs.
In reply, South Zone chased down the target in 19 overs, losing just two wickets. Ashwin Achal struck an unbeaten half-century (57). Lakshman (28) and Hardik (16) played useful knocks too. In the second match, East Zone were bundled out for just 110 runs.
Chasing 111 to win, North Zone struggled but significant contributions from Indranil Bose (20), Akash Rawal (19) and Jayant Singh (17) ensured a victory for North Zone.