Venugopal Rao onslaught sinks England A

South Zone 174 and 503 for 4 (Rao 228*, Sriram 117, Badrinath 100*) beat England A 377 and 297 for 8 dec by six wickets
Scorecard

Venugopal Rao led South Zone to a remarkable victory on the final day of their Duleep Trophy match against England A at Gurgaon. He scored a sparkling 228 and added 226 with Sridharam Sriram (117), and then put on an unbeaten stand of 212 with Subramaniam Badrinath (100*) as South Zone reached their colossal target of 501 runs with six wickets to spare - the fourth-highest last-innings total to win a first-class match.

Rao, who was a member of India's victorious U-19 World Cup squad in Sri Lanka in 1999-2000, added another 140 runs to his overnight 88. He guided South Zone to their incredible win, made even more remarkable considering they were 1 for 2 on the third day. The highest fourth-innings total was achieved earlier this year, when Central Province amassed 513 for 9 against Southern Province in Sri Lankan domestic cricket.

South Zone resumed at 171 for 2, still needing 330 to win, and made steady progress with Sriram, 78 not out overnight, reaching his hundred in a flurry of boundaries. But Sajid Mahmood checked the progress, having Sriram caught behind by Matt Prior for 117 (227 for 3) before Rao and Sridharan Sharath (28) added a breezy 64 for the fourth wicket.

Again England A struck - Sharath caught by Kevin Pietersen off Graham Napier - but again South Zone's victory charge was not stalled as Rao gained momentum in his impressive innings. Badrinath did more than just keep Rao company as he raced to an unbeaten century as the England bowling figures piled up. Worryingly for Duncan Fletcher, Simon Jones, who is to join the full squad in the Caribbean, went for 89 from 13.5 overs, while James Tredwell conceded 122 from 36 overs.

Rod Marsh, England A's coach, was scathing in his criticism after the match. "We had no-one to blame but ourselves," he told the BBC. "I don't know whether it's arrogance or what, but it's pretty dumb. When you bowl with so little discipline, miss easy opportunities in the field, you don't expect to win cricket matches at this level."

"If they've got any pride, some of them will take a lot of heartache away," he added. "Others will have forgotten about it already. That doesn't upset me, but it's going to upset their cricket careers, I think."