Mumbai, Feb 12 (IANS): The Central Zone defeated the West Zone by six wickets in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Inter-Zonal Twenty20 cricket tournament at Wankhede Stadium here on Sunday.

For the Central Zone, middle-order batsman Harpreet Singh (62) and Mahesh Rawat (30 not out) were the highest scorers.

For the West Zone, Ishwar Chaudhary scalped two wickets while Irfan Pathan and Praveen Tambe took one wicket each.

Chasing 161, openers Naman Ojha and Mahipal Lomror started the proceeding on a steady note. Both batsman built a 33-run partnership before Lomror was sent packing in the fourth over by Chaudhary.

Incoming batsman Ambati Rayudu and Ojha added 10 runs before the latter was caught by Shreyas Iyer off Chaudhary in the sixth over.

Soon Rayudu was also stumped by Parthiv Patel off Tamble with scoreboard reading 79/3 in 11 overs.

Incoming batsman Rawat and Harpreet then forged a match-winning 79-run partnership for the fourth wicket to get past 150-run mark.

With just three run needed in last three overs, Harpreet was taken by pacer Pathan.

New batsman Sohraab Dhaliwal and Rawat then completed the formalities to hand a comfortable victory with 10 balls remaining.

Earlier, the West Zone posted 160/8 in their allotted 20 overs. Aditya Tare (40) and Deepak Hooda (49) were the major contributors for the team.

Brief scores:
West Zone: 160/8 (Aditya Tare 40, Deepak Hooda 49; Aniket Chaudhary 3-47) against Central Zone (Harpreet Singh 62, Mahesh Rawat 30 not out; Ishwar Chaudhary 2-20)