The South Zone of the Ranji Trophy, 1997-98 saw the participation of 6 teams, all the regular participants of the tournament. The tournament is known to be the premium and most popular domestic cricket tournament in India and the South Zone teams in the tournament were mainly representing different states from that region. The teams included the likes of Andhra, Tamil Nadu, Hyderabad, Kerala, Goa and Karnataka and all the teams tried their best to become one of the top three teams in the zone. Securing a berth in the Super League stage of the tournament was also another principal objective of the teams, however, only the teams like Hyderabad, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu eventually did so from the South Zone.

The match between the teams of Andhra and Tamil Nadu was the first of the South Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1997-98 and the match was held at Vishakhapatnam from 21-24 October, 1997. The Tamil Nadu and Andhra teams earned 5 and 3 points, respectively from the drawn match. The second match of the zone was played between the teams of Karnataka and Kerala and the match took place at Bangalore from 21-24 October, 1997. The Karnataka team played very well in the match and clinched a victory of an innings and 23 runs for earning 8 points and the Kerala team remained pointless in the match. The teams of Hyderabad and Andhra played against each other in the third match of the South Zone and the match was held at Secunderabad from 29 October-01 November, 1997. The match remained drawn during the specified period of time and the match officials awarded both the Hyderabad and Andhra teams 2 points, each for the match.

The Karnataka team played against the Goa team in the fourth of the South Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1997-98 and the two teams played the match at Bangalore from 29-31 October, 1997. The Karnataka team thrashed the Andhra team by a margin of 10 wickets in the match for earning 8 points and the Goa team failed to earn any points from the match. The Hyderabad and Karnataka teams played against each other in the next match of the zone and the match took place at Secunderabad from 06-09 November, 1997. The Karnataka and Hyderabad teams earned 5 and 3 points, respectively from the drawn match. The next match of the zone saw the teams of Kerala and Andhra playing against each other at Kochi from 06-09 November, 1997. The match remained drawn during the stipulated duration and the match officials awarded the Andhra and Kerala teams 5 and 3 points, respectively for the match.

The seventh of the South Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1997-98 involved the teams like Andhra and Goa and the match took place at Vishakhapatnam from 14-17 November, 1997. The Goa team earned 8 points from the match, by clinching a victory of 7 wickets and the Andhra team failed to earn any points from the match. The next match of the zone was played between the teams of Kerala and Hyderabad and the match was organised at Kochi from 14-17 November, 1997. The drawn match saw the Hyderabad and Kerala teams earning 5 and 3 points, respectively from it. The Karnataka team played against the Tamil Nadu team in the next match of the zone and the match took place at Bangalore from 15-18 November, 1997. The Tamil Nadu and Karnataka teams earned 5 and 3 points, respectively from the drawn match.

The Andhra and Karnataka teams played against each other in the tenth of the South Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1997-98 and the two teams played the match at Vijayawada from 22-25 November, 1997. The match remained drawn during the specified period of time and the match officials awarded the Karnataka and Andhra teams 5 and 3 points, respectively for the match. The Goa and Kerala teams were involved in the next match of the zone and the match was held at Panaji from 22-25 November, 1997. The Goa and Kerala teams earned 5 and 3 points, respectively from the match that remained drawn during the stipulated duration. The teams of Tamil Nadu and Hyderabad played against each other in the next match of the South Zone and the match took place at Chennai from 22-25 November, 1997. The drawn match saw the Tamil Nadu team earning 5 points and Hyderabad earning 3 points from it.

The Hyderabad team appeared in the next match of the South Zone also and this time, it played against the Goa team at Panaji from 30-31 December, 1997. The Hyderabad team showed a very good performance in the match for clinching a victory of an innings and 76 runs and it also earned 8 points from the match. The Goa team could not earn even a single point from the match. The next match of the zone involved the teams like Tamil Nadu and Kerala and the match took place at Chennai from 30 December, 1997 - 02 January, 1998. The drawn match saw the Tamil Nadu and Kerala teams earning 5 and 3 points, respectively from it. The last of the South Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1997-98 was played between the teams of Tamil Nadu and Goa and the two teams played the match at Chennai from 07-10 January, 1998. The Tamil Nadu team earned 8 points from the match, by clinching a victory of an innings and 116 runs and the Goa team remained pointless in the match.