Deodhar Trophy: Manoj Tiwary's 151 takes East Zone to final

Skipper Manoj Tiwary continued his blazing form in domestic competitions with a magnificent 151 that powered East Zone to a comfortable 52-run win over North in the Deodhar Trophy semi-final at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai yesterday.

Courtesy Manoj's career-best one day knock that came off only 121 balls, East scored 273-8 in 50 overs. In reply, North were never in contention as a disciplined bowling effort saw them get all out for 221 in 47.1 overs.

Fittingly, it was the East Zone captain who winded up the innings with the wicket of Sandeep Sharma. Senior Bengal off-spinner Saurashis Lahiri (3-41) bowled brilliantly with able support from Biplab Samantray (2-51).

However, the day belonged to Manoj, who certainly staked a strong claim to be included in the 30-member preliminary squad for the World Cup as well as a berth in the team for the tri-series Down Under.

In the past one month, Manoj has scored a century each in Duleep Trophy (vs West Zone), Vijay Hazare Trophy (130 vs Vidarbha) and now Deodhar Trophy (151 vs North Zone). Yesterday's innings had 15 boundaries and four sixes.

North Zone captain Harbhajan Singh, didn't take part in the match due to viral fever and throat infection.

Manoj Tiwary is hopeful that his consistent performances in domestic cricket will help him get a longer rope with the Indian team. "I believe that I will get an opportunity and hopefully, it will be a longer rope I guess," said Tiwary.

Tiwary said he has matured with age as a player and does not throw away his wicket as he had done earlier on.

"Earlier, I used to throw away my wicket in the middle phase. But now I am trying to capitalise on whatever form is with me right now."

Brief scores
East Zone 273-8 (M Tiwary 151, S Goswami 43; Sandeep 3-49) beat North Zone 221 (Gurkeerat 83, Mandeep Singh 40; Lahiri 3-41, B Samantray 2-51) by 52 runs