Taking full advantage of his first outing in the Deodhar Trophy thus far, Sridharan Sharath hit a responsible 65 to guide South Zone to a three-wicket win over Central Zone at Gurgaon on Tuesday.

Batting first, Central Zone made 230/8 in their allotted 50 overs. The bulk of the runs came from openers Jyoti P Yadav and Gagan Khoda, who made 55 and 44 respectively and put on 107 runs for the first wicket. The highest scorer of the innings, however was Mohammad Kaif, who hit 60 off just 52 balls, with four fours and two sixes.

Chasing 231, South Zone started well with a 61-run opening partnership. But wickets tumbled thereafter, and when they were 141/5, Central Zone had a decisive upper hand. But Sharath played calmly, accumulating the runs at exactly the right pace.

When Sharath fell, therefore, as the sixth wicket with the score on 213, he had taken South to the threshold of victory. He scored 65 off 86 balls, with four fours and one six. Only one more wicket fell thereafter, and South Zone reached their target with three wickets and 16 balls to spare.

© CricInfo