West upstage North

MUMBAI, JAN 30: The battle for the Vijay Hazare trophy is headed for an interesting finish if today's results are any indication. While East...

MUMBAI, JAN 30: The battle for the Vijay Hazare trophy is headed for an interesting finish if today8217;s results are any indication. While East Zone trounced South Zone by 103 runs, West edged out North by two wickets resulting in a four-way tie for the top spot in the round-robin league of the zonal under-16 limited overs cricket tournament.

East, West, North and Central all have posted 2 victories each and the final round of matches tomorrow would decide the winner.

At the Bombay Gymkhana, West made a hash of a modest run-chase before emerging winners. After the bowlers had done a formidable job of bundling out North for a meagre 109 49 overs, West were cruising along at 75 for two when a collapse ensued. Six wickets tumbled for the addition of 33 runs before tailenders Kashinath Khadkikar saw the side through hitting the winning boundary.

West opener Vinayak Mane led the batting honours with a watchful 44 72b, 94m, 5215;4. But once the 10th standard student of Shardashram High School English departedthings became difficult for West.

The burly left-arm spinner Yuvraj Singh led North8217;s fightback scalping four of the six wickets to fall to end up with figures of 4-25. Earlier, Yuvraj8217;s 37 was the only noteworthy contribution in North8217;s innings when they were put into bat first.

In the other match of the day at Elf-Vengsarkar Academy, Oval maidan, Mritunjay Gohain hogged the limelight with his all-round display in East8217;s victory over South. After stringing a 131-run stand in 28.2 overs with Shubomoy Das, Gohain returned to claim three wickets for 18 runs.

Brief Scores: North Zone 109 in 34 overs Yuvraj Singh 37, Hariskishan Kalli 21; Uday Karavadhra 2-14, Prashant Joshi 2-11, Kashinath Khadkikar 2-4 lost to West Zone 113-8 in 35.1 overs Vinayak Mane 44; Yuvraj Singh 4-25 by two wickets

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East Zone 227 in 49 overs Shubomoy Das 72, Mritunjay Gohain 67; Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan 4-34 bt South Zone 124 in 44.5 overs Avinash Pai 22, Arjun Yadav 20; Sourashis Lahiri 3-16, Mritunjay Gohain 3-18by 103 runs