Ishank Jaggi slammed an unbeaten 110 and Dhiraj Goswami picked up a four-wicket haul to set up East Zone's comfortable 65-run win over 11 time champions North in a Group 'A' one-day encounter in Deodhar Trophy tournament in Cuttack on Saturday.
The victory not only earned the East Zone a bonus point to enhance their chance for a place in the summit clash, but also shut the door on North, who now have just three points.
Riding on Jaggi's century, East Zone put up a competitive 305 for six after sent in to bat and then bundled out North for 240 in 49.4 overs.
For East Zone, medium-pacer Dhiraj Goswami of Assam was the wrecker-in-chief returning with four for 35.
North skipper Mithun Manhas (58) and opener Aakash Chopra (58) made half centuries but those were not enough to overhaul the big target.
Virat Kohli, who hit a match-winning unbeaten 79 yesterday, could score just seven runs and his dismissal was crucial in turning around the match in favour of East.
Earlier, East put up a solid batting display as openers Wriddhiman Saha (84) and Natraj Behera (41) provided them a rollicking start with a 98-run stand.
Rourkela boy Behera entertained the sparse home crowd in his 49-ball knock studded with eight boundaries.
Delhi leggie Chetanya Nanda drew the first blood when he dismissed Behera but the 20-year-old Jaggi, who opens for Jamshedpur, took charge of the East innings after that.
Jaggi and Saha complimented each other in their 74-run partnership for the second wicket.
When Saha looked set for a big one, the Bengal wicketkeeper-batsman became the victim of medium-pacer Yashpal Singh.
Manoj Tiwary (1) had a good start to his stint as East Zone captaincy, but the stylish Bengal batsman failed individually lasting only four balls. He was bowled around the legs by Rajat Bhatia.
But North failed to make further inroads as the Jharkhand duo of Jaggi and Saurabh Tiwary slowly took the match away from Manhas & Co.
Fresh from his unbeaten 159 -- his first List A century -- against Assam in Vijay Hazare Trophy last month, Jaggi was at his sublime best.
He played all kinds of shots -- pulls, drives, sweeps and reverse-sweeps -- with ease showcasing his skills in front of the lone selector -- Raja Venkat (East) -- watching the tie in an otherwise empty stadium.
But before Jaggi could post the century, East lost two quick wickets Saurabh (52) and Deepak Sharma (1) with the card reading 287 for five.
More from rediff