Decisive spell from Vidyuth sees South Zone clinch victory

The CK Nayudu Trophy Under-19 Tournament has always attracted exciting young talent. When Central Zone Under-19s took on South Zone Under-19s at Chennai this was especially so. Both teams boasted sides that had players who were already beginning to make the headlines. For Central Zone Under-19s, Mrithyunjay Tripathi, Shalab Sriwastava and Anup Dave represented a strong bowling attack. The South had all rounder Y Venugopal Rao, batsman Arjun Yadav and left spinner Vidyuth Sivaramakrishnan in their line up.

The Central Zone Under-19s captain Mrithyunjay Tripathi won the toss and elected to put South Zone Under-19s in to bat. After seeing Arjun Yadav and Venugopal Rao take his attack apart he must have thought twice about the decision he made. However, none of the other batsmen for South Zone Under-19s stayed at the crease long enough to make a serious contribution. The captain of the Central Zone Under-19s team, Mrithyunjay Tripathi, led from the front, conceding just 24 runs in the 10 overs he bowled.

South Zone Under-19s eventually managed to post a total of 257. Although 257 is no small total, it was one that could easily have been attained on a Southern Railways Ground that was notorious for its short boundaries. The wicket had traditionally been one that has favoured batsmen.

If Central Zone Under-19s thought that South Zone Under-19s would stand by and watch as the target was overhauled, they were in for a rude shock. Although Amit Deshpande (55) managed to get the Central Zone Under-19s off to a decent start, three run outs got rid of the top three batsmen. Even at 79/3 after 22.3 overs, Central Zone had a fairly good chance of chasing the total if they could keep going at a steady pace.

Vidyuth Sivaramakrishnan made sure that no such thing was possible. Bowling his left arm spinners with consistency, Vidyuthh picked up wickets at regular intervals in his 10 over spell. Easily the most successful bowler for South Zone Under-19s, Vidyuth's spell ended one ball short of his allotted 10 overs as he picked up the last wicket of the Central Zone Under-19s side and ended the match. His effort of 3/38 went a long way in sealing victory for South Zone Under-19s.