Yusuf, Kulkarni lead West into final

A rapid half-century from Yusuf Pathan converted a middling total into a competitive one for West Zone in Visakhapatnam, after which Dhawal Kulkarni and Arpit Vasavada secured a 42-run win against Central Zone, sealing a place in the Deodhar Trophy final. West's wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel had a terrific game, effecting seven dismissals, equalling the national record.

West Zone did not make a good start after winning the toss. Cheteshwar Pujara held the top order together but wickets fell around him and West were struggling at 125 for 4 in the 36th over. Pujara had just fallen for 60 off 96 balls. Yusuf provided the acceleration, smacking 70 off 57 balls with nine fours and a six. Legspinner Piyush Chawla ran through the lower order, dismissing Yusuf as well, to finish with 4 for 54 in 12 overs. West Zone had scored 233 for 9 in their 50 overs.

Central Zone's top order fared worse than West's did. Their openers fell for 1 and 4, and their No. 4 and 5 batsmen were also dismissed in single digits. Shalabh Shrivastava made 65 at No. 3 and his 63-run stand with Chawla, who made 41, was the only substantial one in the innings. It took Central from 73 for 4 to 136 for 5. Once that partnership was broken, though, the rest folded and Central were dismissed for 191 in 44.3 overs. Kulkarni finished with 4 for 39, while Vasavada took 3 for 19.