Yuvraj, Unmukt power North Zone

Half-centuries by senior pro Yuvraj Singh and the talented Unmukt Chand helped North Zone cruise to a comfortable eight-wicket victory over Central Zone and enter the Deodhar Trophy final here on Monday.

North will meet the winner of the second semifinal between South Zone and West Zone to be played on Tuesday.

North captain Gautam Gambhir opted to field and his bowlers responded well by bundling out Central for a paltry 190 in 41.5 overs in match that was first curtailed to 45-overs-per side.

Due to inclement weather, North’s target was revised to 160 in 33 overs and the winners got their with 19 balls to spare.

The highlight of the North chase was an unbeaten partnership of 129 runs between Yuvraj (77 n.o.) and Unmukt (56 n.o.).

While Unmukt decided to drop anchor at one end facing 85 balls and hitting five fours, Yuvraj looked in fluent touch as he smashed nine fours and three sixes.

Brief scores: Central Zone: 190 all out in 41.5 overs (Naman Ojha 31, Suresh Raina 33, Ashok Menaria 34; Amit Mishra 3-50, Rajat Paliwal 2-14) lt to (revised target 160 from 33 overs) North Zone: 160/2 in 29.5 overs (Unmukt Chand 56 n.o., Yuvraj Singh 77 n.o.; Praveen Kumar 2-28).