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South Zone brought forth their all-round prowess to brush aside North East Zone by nine wickets in their Deodhar Trophy match in Puducherry on Friday.
The South Zone bowlers, led by Vidwath Kaverappa and R Sai Kishore, bundled out NE Zone for a feeble 136 after the latter elected to bat first.
South had little trouble in overhauling the target in just 19.3 overs as opener Rohan Kunnummal made an unbeaten fifty (87, 58 balls, 8x4, 5x6).
The victory also saw South consolidating their position on top of the table with 12 points, and a superior net run rate (NRR) too helped their cause.
In this match, South paired Vidwath with Arjun Tendulkar, who came in for Vasuki Koushik.
The left-arm pacer Arjun made an immediate impact, dismissing opener Anup Ahlawat. With Vidwath and Sai Kishore too joining the list, North East found themselves at a rocky 31 for 3.
North East Zone failed to stitch together any meaningful partnership in their innings except a 30-run alliance for the fourth wicket between captain M Langlonyamba and K Priyojit.
Priyojit was the top-scorer for NE Zone with a 40 that he made off 104 balls.
Pacer Vidwath and left-arm spinner Sai Kishore were the most successful bowlers for South, taking six wickets equally among themselves.
Vidwath, now, has 12 wickets from three matches and leads the wicket-takers' chart. Sai Kishore closely tails him with 10 wickets.
The gulf in class between the two sides was evident once Rohan and Mayank Agarwal mounted the chase.
Rohan, the 25-year-old opener from Kerala, was quick to assert himself and peppered the cover and point regions with delectable shots.
Rohan's power was also on view as he cleared long-on and long-off fences five times. Rohan's fifty was his fifth in List A matches.
The South opening pair went for quick runs keeping in mind the NRR, and added 95 runs in 15.4 overs.
The dismissal of Agarwal, who was trapped leg before by Imliwati Lemtur for 32 was a minor stumbling block.
Brief scores: North East Zone 136 all out in 49.2 overs (K Priyojot 40; Vidwath Kaverappa 3/27, R Sai Kishore 3/22) lost to South Zone: 136/1 in 19.3 overs (Rohan Kunnummal 87 n.o, Mayank Agarwal 32) by 9 wickets.