North canter to seven-wicket victory over Central

Delhi opener Akash Chopra struck a forceful unbeaten 105 that gave North Zone an easy win over Central Zone in their Deodhar Trophy match at the Panjim Gymkhana Grounds in Goa on Thursday.

A wet wicket meant that play started an hour late, and each side's quota was reduced to 47 overs. North Zone skipper Reetinder Singh Sodhi invited his rival to bat first, and Sodhi's bowlers did not let him down. Apart from opener Gagan Khoda, who made 80 (109b. 6x), no other batsman was allowed to capitalise on a start, and although TP Singh made 45, Central ultimately reached 216 for nine in their 47 overs.

Chasing 217 was never going to be too much of a problem for North's strong line-up, but Chopra's century made the job even easier. The batsman's 105 came off 136 balls, with 11 fours, a sedate counterpart to Gautam Gambhir's quickfire 43 off 39 balls (8x4).

North reached their target in just 44.2 overs with seven wickets still in hand, picking up four points from the encounter.