A number of 6 teams played against each other under the South Zone in the Ranji Trophy, 1986-87 and the teams were representing different states from the Southern region of India. The teams had been participating in the tournament on a regular for the previous several editions and they included the likes of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Goa, Hyderabad, Andhra and Kerala. Though all of them tried hard to get a chance in the knock out level of the tournament by claiming the top spot in the zone, only the teams like Karnataka and Hyderabad could eventually do so from the zone. The Karnataka team earned a total of 75 points and Hyderabad earned 61 points, at the end of the zonal level league matches to become the top two teams in the South Zone.

The Goa and Tamil Nadu teams started the proceedings for the South Zone, as they clashed with each other in the first of the South Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1986-87. The match was held at Panjim from 15-17 November, 1986 and it remained drawn during the stipulated duration. The Tamil Nadu and Goa teams earned 14 and 8 points, respectively from the match. The teams of Karnataka and Goa played against each other in the second match of the zone and the two teams played the match at Panjim from 20-22 November, 1986. The drawn match saw the Karnataka team earning 18 points and Goa earning 10 points from it. The third match of the zone was played between the teams of Kerala and Goa and the match took place at Trivandrum from 29 November-01 December, 1986. The Kerala and Goa teams earned 12 and 7 points, respectively from the drawn match.

There was a clash between the teams of Karnataka and Andhra in the fourth of the South Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1986-87 and the clash took place at Bangalore from 29 November-01 December, 1986. The match remained drawn during the stipulated duration and the match officials awarded the Karnataka and Andhra teams 13 and 9 points, respectively for the match. The Goa team then played against the Andhra team in the next match of the zone, which was held at Panjim from 05-07 December, 1986. The match also remained drawn during the specified period of time and the Andhra and Goa teams earned 10 and 8 points, respectively from the match. The next match of the zone involved the teams like Hyderabad and Kerala and the match took place at Kothagudem from 07-09 December, 1986. The Hyderabad and Kerala teams earned 16 and 12 points, respectively from the drawn match.

The Kerala team appeared in the seventh of the South Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1986-87 also and this time, it played against the Andhra team at Srikakulam from 12-14 December, 1986. The Kerala and Andhra teams earned 10 and 8 points, respectively from the match, as it remained drawn during the stipulated duration. The next match of the zone saw a clash between the teams of Hyderabad and Tamil Nadu at Hyderabad from 13-15 December, 1986. The drawn match saw the Hyderabad and Tamil Nadu teams earning 7 and 6 points, respectively from it. The clash between the teams of Karnataka and Hyderabad took place in the next match of the zone at Bangalore from 20-22 December, 1986. The match also remained drawn during the specified period of time and the match officials awarded the Karnataka and Hyderabad teams 18 and 11 points, respectively for the match.

The match between the teams of Kerala and Tamil Nadu was also organised during the same timing from 20-22 December, 1986 and the two teams played the match at Trivandrum. The drawn match saw the Tamil Nadu and Kerala teams earning 16 and 10 points, respectively from it. The eleventh of the South Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1986-87 involved the teams like Hyderabad and Andhra and the match was held at Anantpur from 27-29 December, 1986. The match also remained drawn during the specified period of time and the match officials awarded the Andhra and Hyderabad teams 14 and 9 points, respectively for the match. Then the Tamil Nadu clashed with the Karnataka team in the next match of the zone, which took place at Salem from 27-29 December, 1986. The Karnataka and Tamil Nadu teams earned 13 and 8 points, respectively from the drawn match.

There was a clash between the teams of Hyderabad and Goa in the next match of the South Zone and the match was held at Hyderabad from 10-12 January, 1987. The winner of the match was the Hyderabad team with a huge margin of 9 wickets and the team earned 18 points from the match. The Goa team also earned 4 points from the match. The teams of Kerala and Karnataka clashed with each other in the next match of the zone, which took place at Trivandrum from 10-12 January, 1987. The Karnataka team earned 13 points and Kerala earned 12 points from the drawn match. The last of the South Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1986-87 saw a clash between the teams of Tamil Nadu and Andhra and the clash took place at Madras from 10-12 December, 1987. The Tamil Nadu played well in the closely contested match and clinched a narrow victory of 4 wickets for earning 16 points and the Andhra team earned 7 points from the match, as well.