Rakesh, Amit shine in North Zone's victory in JK Bose tourney

Fine batting by Amit Chaudhary (85 not out) and deadly bowling by seasoned off-spinner Rakesh Thapliyal (6 for 8 runs) helped North Zone crush East Zone by 92 runs in their opening match of the All India JK Bose memorial Twenty20 cricket tournament for sports journalists being played in Guwahati.

Batting first North Zone piled up 170 runs for the loss of three wickets, riding on fine half-century by Amit Chaudhary, in their stipulated overs. Veteran Vijay Kumar, who ably supported Amit, remained unbeaten on 18.

Chasing a stiff target of 171 runs, East Zone crumbled against potent North Zone attack. Offie Rakesh Thapliyal was the wrecker-in-chief as he picked up six crucial wickets.

East Zone could all manage 92 runs and were bundled up in 15.1 overs. Rajdeep Das scored 23 runs for East Zone.

Amit Chaudhary, Jaswinder Sidhu and Debjeet Kundu picked up a wicket each for victorious North Zone team.

Brief scores:

North Zone: 170 for 3 in 20 overs; (Amit Chaudhary 85 not out, Vijay Kumar 18 not out; Kishen Talukdar 1/23)

East Zone: 78 all out in 15.1 overs; (Rajdeep Das 23, Rakesh Thapliyal 6/8, Amit Chaudhary 1/5, Jaswinder Sidhu 1/18 and Debjeet Kundu 1/28)