Cuttack , March 7, 2010: North Zone crushed East Zone by eight wickets in the first semifinal of the Prof D B Deodhar Trophy Tournament at Motibagh ground in Vadodara today.

Left-arm spinner Bipul Shah, opener Shikhar Dhawan and captain Virat Kohli played instrumental roles in taking North into the final. Shah bagged five wickets to help his team bowl out the opposition for 210. Dhawan (86 not out) and Kohli (66) then hit a half-century each to clinch the win with 12.1 overs to spare.

Orissa opening batsman Paresh Patel (65) and Bengal wicket-keeper Wridhiman Saha performed creditably for East, scoring a half-century each. Batting failure cost East Zone dear as they were reduced to 133 for eight after being sent to bat first. Saha (58) and captain Debasis Mohanty (16) staged a fightback with a 57-run stand for the ninth wicket to help take their side to a respectable position.

BRIEF SCORE:

EAST ZONE: 210 all out in 48.2 overs (Paresh Patel 65, Wridhiman Saha 58; Bipul Sharma 5/36, Joginder Sharma 2/33, Jaskaran Singh 2/38) lost to NORTH ZONE: 211 for 2 in 37.5 overs (S Dhawan 85 n.o, Virat Kohli 66, M Singh 32 n.o; Ashok Dinda 2/53).