Parab and Jadhav lead West Zone to big win

West Zone 306 for 7 (Parab 142, Jadhav 109, Bose 5-49) beat East Zone 243 (Dhoni 101) by 63 runs
Scorecard

West Zone kicked off the Deodhar Trophy in style with an emphatic 63-run victory over East at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. After being asked to bat first, West rode on fantastic centuries from Satyajit Parab and Dheeraj Jadhav and the two put on a massive 258 for the opening stand. Ranadeb Bose, the medium pacer from Bengal, finished with a five-wicket haul but West had reached a mammoth 306 for 7 at the end of their 50 overs.

East got off to a rapid start as Mahendra Singh Dhoni powered them to 100 within the first 15 overs. But Dhoni lost partners at regular intervals and the moment he fell, after a fine 101 from 102 balls, East Zone's hopes diminished rapidly. Rajesh Pawar, the left-arm spinner, sent down an economical spell of 2 for 32 and West triumped without any fuss.

South Zone 269 for 9 (Venugopal 69, Asnodkar 53, RP Singh 5-58) beat Central Zone 262 (Raina 94) by 7 runs
Scorecard

Suresh Raina's quickfire 94 wasn't enough as Central Zone fell short in a thrilling Deodhar Trophy encounter at the Nehru Stadium in Pune. Chasing 270, Central lost four wickets within the first 15 overs before Raina came to the fore. Smashing nine fours and two sixes, he shared a crucial 84-run stand with Murali Kartik as the pair lifted the score to 222. But NC Aiyappa, the medium pacer from Karnataka, provided South with the vital breakthrough, as he bowled Raina for 94, and though the tail didn't give in easily, South sneaked home by seven runs.

Earlier, half-centuries from Venugopal Rao and Swapnil Asnodkar boosted South Zone to 269. VVS Laxman chipped in with a run-a-ball 41 before being bowled by Rudra Pratap Singh, who ended as the most effective bowler with 5 for 58.