Rajat Bhatia’s unbeaten half-century failed to save North Zone from defeat against South Zone in the Deodhar Trophy match here on Sunday.

Chasing 248 to win, North Zone could manage just 205 for nine in their 50 overs at Visakhapatnam District Cricket Association stadium. Bhatia (not out 62) fought till the end but could not find an able ally at the other end, as wickets fell at regular intervals. Bhatia hit three boundaries and three sixes in his 74-ball knock but only skipper Gautam Gambhir (43) provided any support. Gambhir, along with opener Uday Kaul (31), shared a 68-run stand for the second wicket after the early departure of Karan Goel (2).

North Zone bastmen failed to build partnerships after the fall of the skipper and that sealed their fate.

Gnanseswara Rao and spinner Pragyan Ojha shared six wickets among them. Ojha conceded just 20 runs from his 10 overs. Earlier, opener Robin Uthappa (57) hit a patient half-century to help South Zone reach a competitive total, after they were put in to bat. Uthappa and S Vidyut (37) provided a good start to their side, weaving a 70-run stand for the opening wicket.

However, the latter batsmen struggled to build partnerships, as the middle order failed to capitalise on the good start. Pacer Manpreet Gony was the pick of the North Zone bowlers, picking four wickets for 52 in his 10 overs.

SCORE BOARD

SOUTH ZONE: Robin Uthappa b Gony 57, S Vidyut c Kaul b Sangwan 37, S Badrinath c Kaul b Bhatia 17, Dinesh Kaarthick lbw Mishra 40, Arjun Yadav c Gony b Sangwan 31, Y Gnaneswara Rao (run out) 2, C Raghu c Kaul b Gony 9, R Vinay Kumar (not out) 31, Saurabh Bandekar c Kaul b Gony 0, Pragyan Ojha c Kaul b Gony 2, PN Sarvesh Kumar (not out) 2. Extras (B-4, LB-3, W-9, NB-3) 19. Total (for 9 wkts, 50 overs) 247.
Fall of wickets: 1-70, 2-116, 3-128, 4-191, 5-193, 6-207, 7-221, 8-221, 9-225.

Bowling: Vikramjeet Malik 10-1-41-0, Manpreet Gony 10-1-52-4, Pradeep Sangwan 10-0-48-2, Amit Mishra 10-0-47-1, Rajat Bhatia 8-0-39-1, Yashpal Singh 2-0-13-0.

NORTH ZONE: Uday Kaul c Vidyut b Rao 31, Karan Goel c Kaarthick b Vinay 2, Gautam Gambhir c Uthappa b Rao 43, Yashpal Singh c Ojha b Bandekar 19, Pradeep Dogra c Rao b Ojha 13, R Bhatia (not out) 62, Aakash Chopra st Kaarthick b Ojha 4, Amit Mishra c Uthappa b Ojha 0, Pradeep Sangwan c Kaarthick b Sarvesh 12, Vikramjeet Malik c & b Rao 3, Manpreet Gony (not out) 7. Extras (LB-2, W-7) 9. Total (for 9 wkts, 50 overs) 205.
Fall of wickets: 1-13, 2-78, 3-81, 4-112, 5-115, 6-132, 7-132, 8-158, 9-165.

Bowling: R Vinay Kumar 10-1-37-1, PN Sarvesh Kumar 10-0-39-1, Saurabh Bandekar 8-0-52-1, Y Gnaneswara Rao 10-0-47-3, C Raghu 2-0-8-0, Pragyan Ojha 10-2-20-3.