Manoj Tiwary led from the front with a sparkling half-century and veteran pacer Ashok Dinda claimed four wickets as East Zone outclassed West by 24 runs to win the Deodhar Trophy Zonal One-Day Tournament, in Mumbai, on Wednesday.
East captain Tiwary continued his good recent form as he top-scored with 75, while Biplab Samantray and Virat Singh registered brisk half-centuries, to take the team to a challenging 269 for eight after they elected to bat first in the final at the Wankhede stadium.
In reply, West were bundled out for 245 in 47.2 overs despite a splendid innings of 97 from Kedar Jadhav.
Bengal pacer Dinda did most of the damage, claiming four wickets for 33 runs, while left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem bagged two for 42.
Samantray, who hit a quickfire 60 from 50 balls, made an important contribution with the ball too, taking two for 52.
None of the batsmen gave Jadhav support as West struggled in the middle overs.
Suryakumar Yadav (35 from 55 balls) and Ankit Bawne (28 from 59 balls) failed to get going and threw their wickets away at crucial junctures.
West were still in the hunt with 49 needed from six overs and four wickets in hand, but they messed it up in the final few overs and finished runners-up.
Earlier, East lost an early wicket when opener Ishant Kaggi was caught behind off pacer Dhawal Kulkarni for two in the third over of the innings.
In the next over, Dominic Joseph got the wicket of Shreevats Goswami, dismissing him in the same fashion for a duck.
It left East reeling on five for two in the fourth over.
Captain Tiwary, in the company of 16-year-old Virat, rallied East with some positive batting in the middle overs.
East Zone were struggling at 19 for two in 10 overs before Tiwary broke the shackles with two boundaries off Shardul Thakur in the 11th over.
In the next over, he lofted left-arm spinner Axar Patel for a six over wide long-on and then got a lifeline as West wicketkeeper Smit Patel dropped a sharp chance.
Jharkhand left-hander Virat also got into the act and smashed Thakur through mid-wicket for a four to take East past the 50-run mark in the 15th over.
Tiwary then went after part-time spinner Yusuf Pathan, whom he smashed for three sixes in the space of his two overs, to bring up his fifty in some style, from 53 balls.
Virat, meanwhile, continued to grow in confidence and brought up his fifty off 76 balls in the 29th over.
However, West skipper Pathan’s gamble to bring on part-time spinners Ankit Bawane and Kedar Jadhav paid off.
While Bawane accounted for Virat’s wicket, caught at long-off for 54, his Maharashtra team mate got the big wicket of Tiwary.
The Bengal right-hander slammed an entertaining 75 from 92 balls, inclusive of three fours and four sixes, before was bowled by the part-time off-spinner.
The duo had put the East innings back on track, adding 135 runs from 165 balls for the third wicket, before their dismissals in the space of 16 balls handed back the initiative to West.
Saurabh Tiwary and Biplab Samantray failed to make most of the Batting Powerplay, gathering just 35 runs in five overs, despite the fielding restrictions.
Left-handed Tiwary again failed to shine with the bat, scoring a lacklustre 29 before being caught at long-on off Dhawal Kulkarni.
Samantray hit a few boundaries towards the end for a brisk 60 off 50 balls before he was scalped by Axar, caught at long-off by Surya Kumar Yadav.
Kumar Deobrat stroked a quickfire 21 from 14 balls before being dismissed in the final over as East finished on 269 for seven in their 50 overs.
Image: East Zone's Manoj Tiwary plays a shot during his knock of 75 against West Zone in the Deodhar Trophy final at the Wankhede stadium, in Mumbai, on Wednesday.
Photograph: Santosh Hirlekar/PTI
