Saurabh Kumar’s 6-fer bunded Saurashtra for 79 in the second innings to help Rest of India clinch the Irani Trophy with a 175-run win in Rajkot on Tuesday. 13 wickets fell in an entertaining day’s third day’s play as Rest of India bagged the title 29th time.
Only two runs could be added to Saurashtra 212 for 9 overnight total at the start of Day 3. When they were cleaned out for 160 on their second effort by Parth Bhut’s 7-fer, the visitors’ 94-run advantage became significant. Mayank Agarwal and Sai Sudharsan had an 85-run partnership for the first wicket before losing their wickets. Hanuma Vihari might start things off but couldn’t make any changes. The situation didn’t improve because six of the batters only managed single-digit totals. Dharmendrasinh Jadeja took the final three wickets.
In retaliation, Saurabh made a play in the innings’ second over, eliminating Chirag Jani for a run. In the welcoming setting for the hosts, no batsman presented much resistance, as the left-arm spin duo of Saurabh and Shams Mulani combined to take nine wickets. Jadeja’s 21 runs in only four pitches set the record for the most runs scored in an inning.
Brief Scores:
Rest of India 308 (Sai Sudharsan 72, Saurabh Kumar 39; Parth Bhut 5-94) & 160 (Mayank Agarwal 49, Sai Sudarshanan 43; Parth Bhut 7-53, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja 3-65) beat Saurashtra 214 (Arpit Vasavada 54; Vidwath Kaverappa 3-28, Saurabh Kumar 4-65) & 79 (Dharmendrasinh Jadeja 21; Saurabh Kumar 6-43, Shams Mulani 3-22) by 175 runs
