As expected, it took North Zone just one session to retain their hold on the Duleep Trophy, and in the process win the competition for a record 17th time.
Having retained their advantage over West Zone for most part of the first three days, the fourth day's proceedings were a formality for the defending champions.
Resuming at their overnight total of 74 for three, North lost the wicket of Yashpal Singh (15) before a 63-run fourth-wicket partnership between Shikar Dhawan (unbeaten on 94) and Rajat Bhatia (33 not out) saw them home.
Singh added no further run to his overnight total of 15, but, nevertheless, frustrated the West bowlers by playing 41 balls and sticking around for almost 14 overs. However, his dogged determination finally gave way to a momentary lapse in concentration -- that witnessed him spooning an Ashraf Makda delivery straight to Ajinkya Rahane at point.
In came first innings' top-scorer Bhatia, and he signaled his intentions by slamming the third ball he faced (off Makda) to the boundary. The fifth-wicket duo soon settled down and though North's victory was never in doubt, the only question that sought an answer was whether it could be achieved before lunch.
The answer came in a few minutes. Dhawan smashed a Makda delivery to fine leg for a six; the shot got the batsman into the nineties and saw the team cross 150. Bhatia got a boundary off the fourth ball of Rakesh Dhruv's next over, and the next ball happened to be a wide on the leg side, which also managed to find its way to the fence. Scores level.
It was sheer irony that the winning run came off a no-ball (courtesy Makda). Dhawan remained unbeaten on a well-made 94, a knock that contained 13 magnificent hits to the boundary and one over it; pity he couldn't get to the three-figure landmark. However, North did keep their title, and quite comfortably at that.
The win achieved a double of sorts for North, with Delhi having won the Ranji Trophy a few weeks back. Palpably, skipper Mithun Manhas was ecstatic.
"I was the captain when we won the last time. But there was always a hunger to win," said Manhas. "Usually the North Zone is the most aggressive of all teams and we will continue to be so."
He also took the opportunity to encourage the youngsters in his team.
"The youngsters got an opportunity to establish themselves and they proved that there's a lot of talent in the North," said Manhas. "It took some effort, though 166 was always going to be an easy target."
His West Zone counterpart, Parthiv Patel, reiterated the sentiments.
"The total we put on board wasn't good enough," said Parthiv. "We should have set a target in excess of 250-300 to have a chance."
Scorecard:
West Zone (1st innings): 274
North Zone (1st innings): 340
West Zone (2nd innings): 231
North Zone (2nd innings, overnight 75/3):
A Chopra lbw b Trivedi 12
S Dhawan not out 94
K Goel c Patel b Makda 1
M Manhas c Jaffer b Trivedi 1
Y Singh c Rahane b Makda 15
R Bhatia not out 33
Extras: (lb 1, w 5, nb 4) 10
Total: (for 4 wickets in 58.1 overs) 166
Fall of wickets: 1-28, 2-39, 3-40, 4-103
Bowling: SK Trivedi 20-11-42-2, SP Jobanputra 18-5-51-0, A Makda 18.1-4-59-2, RV Dhurv 2-0-13-0.
Photographs: Bikash Mohapatra
