Valthaty does the star-turn for West Zone

The other match between North Zone and West Zone at the Maharaja Jayachamaraja Wodayar Sports Centre in Bangalore was decided on run rate. The match was interrupted due to rain at 3.47 pm and was called off at 4.40 pm. West Zone were declared winners on having the better run rate.

West Zone were clearly the better team on the day's proceedings. Winning the toss, they rattled up 265 before being all out in 49 overs. The highlight was a fine 126 by opener PC Valthaty. He faced only 102 balls and hit 13 fours and six sixes. With SO Kukreja (52), he put on 128 runs off 23 overs. Valthaty was second out at 197 in the 33rd over. Before he left, he added 69 runs for the second wicket off 9.5 overs. The rest of the batsmen however could not build upon this good start. Abhishek Sharma finished with four wickets for 37 runs from nine overs.

Losing three wickets for 25 runs, North Zone were never really in with a chance of reaching their imposing target. Opening batsman Sumeet Sharma (53) and Rahul Arora (25) added 64 runs for the fourth wicket off 16.2 overs. Sharma was sixth out at 114 in the 29th over. He faced 78 balls and hit six fours. Valthaty then followed his century with some quick wickets and North Zone were reeling at 135 for eight off 35.1 overs when the rain came down. Valthaty took three for 23 off seven overs to play a leading role in his team's victory.