Pujara chips in as West Zone lift Deodhar Trophy

A magnificent batting performance from the West Zone batsmen saw them demolish North Zone by 113 runs to win the Deodhar Trophy final at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamsala on Monday.

Three of the top four West Zone batsmen responded with fifties, the fourth going on to make a hundred after North Zone made the mistake of putting them in to bat first.

Royal Challengers Bangalore batsman Cheteshwar Pujara (71,67b, 8x4) added 116 runs in 114 balls for the second wicket with Ajinkya Rahane (118) and 71 in 56 balls for the third wicket with Kedar Jadhav (67). Opener Parthiv Patel (78) had earlier added 131 runs in 115 balls with Rahane for the first wicket and West Zone eventually raised a total of 355/4 in their 50 overs.

Munaf Patel (4/34) rattled the North Zone top order, Iqbal Abdullah (4/68) took care of the middle order and Ajinkya Darekar (2/50) cleaned up the tail in West Zone’s successful defence.

Bipul Sharma hit a face saving 68 as North Zone were bowled out for 242 in 42.2 overs, handing West Zone the final by 113 runs and the trophy.