Virat, Jaggi shine as East lifts Mushtaq Ali T20 title

MUMBAI: East Zone were crowned champions of the inaugural edition of the revamped Syed Mushtaq Ali Inter Zonal trophy after they beat West Zone by eight wickets here at the Wankhede Stadium.

The side, led by Manoj Tiwary, ended the league on an unbeaten note as half-centuries from Virat Singh (58*) and Ishank Jaggi (56) helped them chase down the 150-run target with 38 balls to spare.

A disciplined bowling performance from the champions restricted West Zone to the modest total. Sheldon Jackson made 52 and shared a 35-run opening wicket partnership with Parthiv Patel. After picking just four runs in the opening two overs, Sheldon took on Suryakant Pradhan in the third over — launching him over the cover region for a boundary before pulling him over midwicket for the maximum. Jackson’s innings, laced with five fours and two sixes might have helped his side reach close to the 150mark.

Coming on to bat, East Zone got off to a flying start as Arun Karthik (24 off 14 balls) and Virat took on the opposition from the very first over. The duo picked up 55 runs off the first five overs.

After Karthik was dimissed, Ishank Jaggi came out in the middle and continued his glorious form with the bat. He hit

three boundaries and six sixes in his 30-ball knock while Virat carried on the carnage from the other end.

In the other match of the day, Central Zone rode on the brilliance of Harpreet Singh Bhatia (92) as they chased down South Zone’s 182-run target to finish the tournament on second spot.