Rest of India defeated Saurashtra by 175 runs to clinch the Irani Cup as 21 wickets fell on the third day at the Saurashtra Cricket Association (SCA) stadium here on Tuesday.
Parth Bhut’s seven-wicket spell in the second session hit Rest of India (RoI) like a big yellow school bus as he ended up with figures of seven for 53. The Rest of India camp would have clutched at anything that looked like a lifeline as it lost nine wickets for 64 runs in the session to be bowled out for 160 in its second innings.
Chasing 255, though, Saurashtra was tasered, tied-up, and gagged in the third session as it was bowled out for 79, courtesy left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar (six for 43, match haul of 10 for 108).
The first session, in stark contrast, was a mushroom cloud of casual. Mayank Agarwal (49, 93b, 6x4) and Sai Sudharsan (43, 104b, 3x4) added 85 runs off 172 balls for the first-wicket and the Rest of India camp would have felt good.
After lunch, Parth had Sai Sudharsan caught at midwicket by Pujara, castled Sarfaraz Khan who attempted a reverse sweep, and Yash Dhull caught and bowled.
Left-hander Shams Mulani came down the track and missed a ball that didn’t turn was stumped. K.S. Bharat , whose tendency to reverse-sweep borders on obsession, top-edged a sweep only to be caught by the bowler himself.
Pulkit Narang missed one that straightened minutely and was bowled through the gate and Vidwath Kaverappa was out leg-before.
Parth (12 for 147) became the first bowler from Saurashtra (and Gujarat) to get a 10-wicket match-haul in the Irani Cup history.
The scores:
Rest of India — 1st innings: 308.
Saurashtra — 1st innings: Harvik Desai c Sarfaraz b Kaverappa 0, Chirag Jani c Bharat b Kaverappa 2, Samarth Vyas c Sarfaraz b Saurabh 29, Cheteshwar Pujara c Dhull b Narang 29, Sheldon Jackson lbw b Saurabh 13, Arpit Vasavada c Sarfaraz b Saurabh 54, Prerak Mankad lbw b Kaverappa 29, Parth Bhut c Bharat b Mulani 20, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja lbw b Mulani 11, Jaydev Unadkat c Narang b Saurabh 19, Yuvrajsinh Dodiya (not out) 0; Extras (lb-4, nb-3, w-1): 8; Total (in 83.2 overs): 214.
Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-4, 3-51, 4-64, 5-77, 6-124, 7-178, 8-193, 9-205.
RoI bowling: Kaverappa 9-0-28-3, Saini 4-0-14-0, Saurabh 26.2-5-65-4, Mulani 23-3-47-2, Narang 21-3-56-1.
Rest of India — 2nd innings: Sai Sudharsan c Pujara b Parth 43, Mayank Agarwal c Harvik b Dharmendrasinh 49, Hanuma Vihari c Harvik b Dharmendrasinh 22, Sarfaraz Khan b Parth 13, Yash Dhull c & b Parth 5, Shams Mulani st Harvik b Parth 1, K.S. Bharat c & b Parth 0, Saurabh Kumar b Dharmendrasinh 7, Pulkit Narang b Parth 9, Navdeep Saini (not out) 4, Vidwath Kaverappa lbw b Parth 1; Extras (lb-4, nb-2): 6; Total (in 52 overs): 160.
Fall of wickets: 1-85, 2-117, 3-133, 4-135, 5-138, 6-139, 7-146, 8-146, 9-156.
Saurashtra bowling: Unadkat 7-4-9-0, Dharmendrasinh 22-2-65-3, Dodiya 7-1-29-0, Parth 16-1-53-7.
Saurashtra — 2nd innings: Chirag Jani b Saurabh 1, Harvik Desai c Sarfaraz b Saurabh 13, Samarth Vyas b Saurabh 10, Cheteshwar Pujara lbw b Mulani 7, Sheldon Jackson c Kaverappa b Saurabh 3, Arpit Vasavada c Vihari b Mulani 0, Prerak Mankad c Dhull b Narang 12, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja c Mulani b Saurabh 21, Parth Bhut c Dhull b Mulani 1, Jaydev Unadkat (not out) 8, Yuvrajsinh Dodiya b Saurabh 0; Extras (b-3): 3; Total (in 34.3 overs): 79
Fall of wickets: 1-3, 2-15, 3-26, 4-33, 5-34, 6-42, 7-50, 8-51, 9-79.
RoI bowling: Kaverappa 3-0-5-0, Saurabh 16.3-1-43-6, Saini 2-0-5-0, Mulani 12-2-22-3, Narang 1-0-1-1.
PoM: Saurabh (RoI).
