Yuvraj Singh justified his Test recall with a belligerent 60 as North Zone cantered to a seven-wicket victory over South to make it to the final of the Duleep Trophy cricket tournament, in Indore on Friday.
Chasing a target of 144, North Zone overcame minor hiccups before scoring the required runs in 22.5 overs on the fourth and final day of the league match at the Usharaje Stadium.
North lost its openers Gautam Gambhir (6) and Virender Sehwag (16) cheaply and were reduced to 36 for four. But then Yuvraj joined forces with Dinesh Mongia (52 with 9 boundaries) to steer the team to victory with an unbeaten 100-run stand for the fourth wicket.
Both Mongia and Yuvraj were in a punishing mood as they flayed the bowlers all around the park at will. Mongia hit nine fours while Yuvraj hit seven boundaries and four mighty sixes.
Yuvraj slammed 20 runs in what turned out to be last over of the day, hitting a hapless M R Srinivas for two fours and two sixes to finish off the innings in style.
Earlier, resuming at the overnight score of four for no loss, Gambhir and Sehwag could add just eight runs to the total when Laxmipathy Balaji trapped Gambhir leg before in the third over.
Vinay Kumar then claimed the wicket of Sehwag, who was caught by Sunil Joshi in the fifth over. North suffered another blow when Akash Chopra was clean bowled by Balaji.
However, Mongia and Yuvraj then took over the reins to see the team to victory.
Scorecard
South Zone (1st innings): 338
North Zone (1st innings): 500
South Zone (2nd Innings): 305
North Zone (2nd innings):
G Gambhir lbw Balaji 6
V Sehwag c Joshi b R Vinay Kumar 16
A Chopra b Balaji 7
D Mongia not out 52
Yuvraj Singh not out 60
Extras: (nb-5) 5
Total: (for 3 wkts in 22.5 overs) 146
Fall of wickets: 1-12, 2-20, 3-46.
Bowling: L Balaji 9-1-29-2, R Vinay Kumar 9-0-41-1, M R Srinivas 3.5-0-61-0, S Joshi 1-0-15-0.
