Guwahati: Fine batting performances from Yuvraj Singh (77 not out) and Unmukt Chand (56 not out) helped North Zone beat Central Zone by eight wickets to reach the final of Deodhar Trophy here on Monday.
Though suffering early jitters after Praveen Kumar sent Gautam Gambhir and Chandan Madan back to the pavilion with the North Zone's score reading just 31, Unmukt Chand found an able company in Yuvraj and thereafter it was Yuvi's show all the way with young Unmukt playing the swcond fiddle.
The southpaw was in full flow, decimating the Central Zone bowlers to all corners of the Nehru Stadium and helped North Zone to an eight-wicket win in the semifinals of the Deodhar Trophy inter-zonal limited-overs tournament here.
Yuvraj came up with a winning knock of unbeaten 77 runs while and Unmukt Chand’s too reached his half century (56 not out) that ensured North reached Central’s revised target of 160 with 3.1 overs to spare. The day’s play was delayed by an hour in the morning owing to a sharp shower for 15 minutes and the contest was reduced to 45-overs-a-side. Put in, Central managed only 190 in 41.5 overs.
In Wednesday’s final, thirteen-time champion North will play the winner of the match between South Zone and West Zone.
Scores:
Central: N. Ojha lbw b Mishra 31, A. Paunikar c Paliwal b Awana 0, S. Raina c Rasool b Grewal 33, A. Menaria c & b Paliwal 34, M. Kaif c Mandeep b Paliwal 24, A. Nath c Unmukt b Mishra 14, P. Chawla b Rasool 24, Praveen c & b Mishra 0, S. Wagh (run out) 9, I. Pandey (not out) 6, I. Ahmed c Yuvraj b Kaul 1; Extras (b-4, lb-1, nb-1, w-8): 14; Total (in 41.5 overs): 190.
Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-67, 3-79, 4-128, 5-131, 6-168, 7-169, 8-179, 9-186.
North bowling: Kaul 7.5-1-34-1, Awana 5-1-14-1, Grewal 7-0-31-1, Mishra 10-0-50-3, Rasool 9-1-42-1, Paliwal 3-1-14-2.
North: Unmukt Chand (not out) 56, C. Madan c Ojha b Praveen 6, G. Gambhir c Kaif b Praveen 9, Yuvraj (not out) 77; Extras (b-4, lb-3, w-5): 12; Total (for two in 29.5 overs): 160.
Fall of wickets: 1-13, 2-31.
Central bowling: Praveen 7-1-28-2, Ahmed 3.5-0-12-0, Pandey 5-0-23-0, Wagh 4-0-27-0, Chawla 4-0-37-0, Raina 4-1-20-0, Menaria 2-0-6-0.
