North Zone won the one-day version of the Bangladesh Cricket League after pipping South Zone by a mere three runs in Sunday's final at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, Mirpur.
South Zone had won all their matches en route to the final, including the game against North Zone, but it was the latter who had the ultimate say in the end, avenging their defeat to the former in the round-robin campaign.
Asked to bat first, North Zone posted 244 runs losing eight wickets in 50 overs, riding on the 114-ball 65 from Fazle Mahmud after the early departure of the openers – captain Liton Das (one) and Shahadat Hossain (four).
Mahmudullah (39), wicketkeeper-batter Akbar Ali (44) and Shamim Hossain (37) chipped in with vital contributions to propel North Zone to a competitive total.
Shariful Islam bagged three wickets for South Zone, while Mehedi Hasan Miraz picked up two.
In pursuit of 245, South Zone narrowly fell short, managing 241/9, after half centuries from opener Anamul Haque (59) and Nasir Hossain (61) and a quick 42 from Zakir Hasan.
South Zone were in a precarious position of 127/6 but Nasir and Nasum Ahmed (38) stitched together a 85-run stand for the seventh wicket to take the southerners closer to the target.
Left-arm spinner Rakibul Hasan starred for North Zone bagging four wickets conceding just 29 runs in his quota of 10 overs.
The franchise-based tournament served as preparation for the national cricketers ahead of India's arrival next month for three ODIs, and two Test matches.
The series opens with the first of three ODIs this Sunday at the same venue.