There were a number of 6 teams played against each other under the South Zone in the Ranji Trophy, 1988-89, the premium domestic cricket tournament in India. The teams were mainly representing different states from the Southern region of India and they included the likes of Kerala, Karnataka, Hyderabad, Andhra, Goa and Tamil Nadu. They fought with each other very hard for becoming one of the top two teams in the zone. Securing a birth in the knock out level of the tournament was also another principal objective of the teams and only the teams like Tamil Nadu and Hyderabad became successful to do so from the zone. The Tamil Nadu team earned 81 points and Hyderabad earned a total of 78 points, at the end of the zonal level league matches.

The match between the teams of Hyderabad and Kerala was the first of the South Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1988-89 and the match was held at Secunderabad from 22-24 November, 1988. The Hyderabad team won the match with a margin of an innings and 54 runs to earn 24 points and the Kerala team also earned 5 points from the match. The Goa and Karnataka teams played against each other in the second match of the zone and the match took place at Panaji from 26-28 November, 1988. The match remained drawn during the stipulated duration and the Karnataka and Goa teams earned 10 and 7 points, respectively from the match. The Kerala team played against the Andhra team in the third match of the zone, which was held at Guntur from 29 November-01 December, 1988. The Andhra team earned 19 points from the match by winning it with a margin of 8 wickets and the Kerala team also earned 6 points from the match.

The clash between the teams of Karnataka and Hyderabad took place in the fourth of the South Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1988-89 and the two teams played the match at Mysore from 03-05 December, 1988. The Karnataka team won the match by 5 wickets and earned 15 points from it. The Hyderabad team also earned 8 points from the match. The Hyderabad team appeared in the next match of the zone also and this time, it played against the Tamil Nadu team at Secunderabad from 10-12 December, 1988. The drawn match saw the Hyderabad and Tamil Nadu teams earning 13 and 12 points, respectively from it. The next match of the zone involved the teams like Kerala and Goa and the teams played the match at Quilon from 10-12 December, 1988. The match remained drawn during the stipulated duration and the Kerala and Goa teams earned 15 and 7 points from it.

The Andhra and Hyderabad teams then played against each other in the seventh of the South Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1988-89 and the match was held at Kakinada from 17-19 December, 1988. The Hyderabad and Andhra teams earned 19 and 10 points, respectively from the drawn match. The next match of the zone saw a clash between the teams of Kerala and Karnataka and the clash took place at Quilon from 17-19 December, 1988. Both the Kerala and Karnataka teams earned 13 points, each from the drawn match. The Kerala team appeared in the next match of the zone also and this time, it played against the Tamil Nadu team at Ernakulam from 24-26 December, 1988. The winner of the match was the Tamil Nadu team with a margin of an innings and 17 runs and the team also earned 24 points from the match. The Kerala team earned 7 points from the match, as well.

The tenth of the South Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1988-89 was played between the teams of Karnataka and Andhra and the teams played the match at Bidar from 24-26 December, 1988. The Karnataka and Andhra teams earned 13 and 9 points, respectively from the match, as it remained drawn during the specified period of time. Then, the Hyderabad and Goa teams played against each other in the next match of the zone at Secunderabad from 25-27 December, 1988. The drawn match saw the Hyderabad team earning 14 points and Goa earning 10 points from it. The next match of the zone involved the teams like Tamil Nadu and Andhra and the match was held at Madras from 31 December, 1988 - 02 December, 1989. The Tamil Nadu team played wonderfully in the match and clinched a huge victory of 10 wickets for earning 16 points. The earnings of the Andhra team from the match were 3 points.

The next match of the zone was played between the teams of Goa and Andhra and the two teams played the match at Panaji from 08-10 January, 1989. The match remained drawn during the specified period of time and the match officials awarded the Goa and Andhra teams 14 and 10 points, respectively for the match. The Tamil Nadu team then played against the Karnataka team in the next match of the zone and the match was held at Madras from 15-17 January, 1989. Playing very well in the match, the Tamil Nadu team clinched a victory of an innings and 123 runs and earned 21 points from it. The Karnataka team earned only 1 point from the match. The last of the South Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1988-89 saw the teams of Goa and Tamil Nadu playing against each other at Panaji from 20-22 January, 1989. The Tamil Nadu and Goa teams earned 8 and 6 points, respectively from the drawn match.