Central Zone 182 (Rinku 38, Murasingh 5-42) and 239 (Mantri 68, Vivek 56, Porel 3-15, Shahbaz 3-66) beat East Zone 122 (Parag 33, Avesh 3-34, Saurabh 3-46) and 129 (Deep 24, Saurabh 8-64) by 170 runs
Central will next face West Zone, the defending champions who had direct entry into the semi-final. That game, starting on July 5, will also be played in Alur.
East had started the final day at 69 for 6, and it took Central only 12 overs on the final morning to get the remaining four wickets, all going to Saurabh.
Saurabh first trapped Riyan Parag lbw in the 34th over, before cleaning up Shahbaz Nadeem in the 38th. Four overs later, he removed Akash Deep and Ishan Porel off successive deliveries to seal the win. East’s top scorer in the second innings was No. 10 Akash Deep, who entertained with a 14-ball 24, which included three sixes off Saurabh.
Saurabh’s eight wickets meant East folded for 129, their second batting failure in the game after they had managed only 122 in the first attempt. The other two wickets in East’s second innings went to Shivam Mavi and Avesh Khan on the third evening.
