North Zone clinched the All India J K Bose cricket tournament for sports journalists when they defeated South Zone by 46 runs in their third and final round robin match at the Rajiv Gandhi International stadium here today.
North hit up a challenging 179 for 2 on the back of Sidharth Sharma's 51 and Amit Chaudhary's 91 not out and then restricted South to 133 for 9 to win the title on better net run rate after North, South and West finished with two wins apiece.
South needed to score only 150 to clinch the title but fell short and finished second while West ended up third and East fourth in the four-teem tournament which was part of the 37th National Convention of the Sports Journalists Federation of India which concluded today.
In table tennis held for the A C Bali Trophy Sports, the Journalists Association of Mumbai made a clean sweep of all three titles by riding on the skills of their top player Amol Karhadkar. SJAM won the men's singles, doubles and team championships. Cricket Board's secretary Sanjay Patel and chess grandmaster C. Harikrishna gave away the prizes.
J K Bose Trophy: At Uppal Stadium: North Zone 179 for two in 20 overs (Siddarth Sharma 53, Amit Choudhary 91 not out, Akash Rawal 31 not out) bt South Zone 133 for nine (Satish Viswanathan 43, Akash Rawal two for 30, Sudhir Upadhyaya two for 25, Amit Choudhary two for 17).
At Gymkhana ground: East Zone 128 for five in 20 overs (Shaik Faizal Ali 32, Mohd Abdul Azi 57 not out, Ripple Christy two for 19) lost to West Zone 131 for four in 18 overs (Subodh Mayure 36).
A C Bali Trophy: Singles: Amol Karhadkar (SJAM) bt R Kaushik (Sports Writers Association of Bangalore) 11-5, 11-6, 6-11, 9-11 11-7.
Doubles: Amol Karhadkar & Ashwin (SJAM) bt K Keertivasan and Bhagawati Prasad (TNSJA) 11-7, 11-4, 11-9.
Team event: SJAM 'A' bt SWAB 'A' 2-1.
Football penalty kicks: Mumbai 'A' bt Orissa 'A' 2-1.
Basketball free throws: SWAB bt TNSJA 'A' 2-1.
