Yuvraj Singh took a big stride towards cementing his place in the Test side, hitting a swashbuckling unbeaten century to help North score a thumping nine-wicket victory over West in the Duleep Trophy league match here today. Chasing a target of 207, North romped home with Yuvraj reamining unbraten on 100 (16x4) on the penultimate day of the match at the K D Singh Babu Stadium. Yuvraj, later declared the man-of-the-match, added 170 for the second wicket with another left-hander Gautam Gambhir, who was equally impressive in scoring an unbeaten 79 (9x4). Yuvraj, who came at the fall of skipper Virender Sehwag (15), exhibited an array of attractive shots on either side of the wicket and raced to his hundred off 115 balls. Yuvraj was particluarly severe on star pace bowler Zaheer Khan, carting him for four boundaries in his two successive overs. Earlier, West, resuming at their overnight score of 146-5, lost wickets in quick succession and were bundled out for 201. Leg-spinner Amit Mishra emerged as the most successful bowler, scalping 5-52. Barring opener Wasim Jaffer (47), Kiran Pawar (37) and all-rounder Rajesh Pawar (39), none of the other West batsmen impressed as the last six wickets managed to add only 81 runs. North began their chase on a cautious note but soon lost Sehwag when he tried to lift a flighted delivery from Pawar and was caught at long-off by Zaheer Khan. Yuvraj delighted the spectators with his power play, negotiating both pacers and spinners with amazing ease. Brief scores: West: 201 and 201 (Jaffer 47, R Pawar 39, K Pawar 37, Amit Mishra 5-52, V Bhatia 2-44) lost to North: 196 and 208-1 (Yuvraj Singh 100 n.o, Gambhir 79 n.o).
