Mumbai: Rest of India cruised to a comfortable victory based on their first innings lead over Mumbai to win the Irani Cup at Wankhade Stadium here on Sunday.
In reply to RoI’s lead of 506 runs on the fifth and final day of Irani Trophy, Mumbai managed to put up 160 runs on the board, losing four wickets in their second innings. Wasim Jaffer scored brilliant knock in the fourth innings of the match and added 101 runs. Apart from Jaffer, other Mumbai batsmen failed to get a good start and ended up being prey to spin duo of Pragyan Ojha and Harbhajan Singh.
Rest of India declared their innings after scoring 389 runs for the loss of five wickets in their second innings during the post-lunch session. Sreesanth and Ishwar Pandey bowled well in the beginning but could not manage to get their side early breakthroughs. But then, Turbanator Harbhajan singh came to the rescue and took the wicket of Aditya Tare and Ajinkya Rahane.
After the fall of Rahane, Rohit Sharma came to the centre but once again threw his away wicket by playing a lofted shot over mid-off which turned out to be amiss hit and he departed with lots of disappointment.
Earlier, the fifth day started with the flurry of boundaries when Ambayati Rayudu and Suresh Raina started the proceedings for Rest of India. Raina soon reached his fifty and was looking solid for a big score but he lost his wicket when the ball took the thick edge of his bat and went straight to short third man. He scored 71 runs and once again showed his consistency.
Rayudu was looking rock solid on the other end and played with patience. He ensured that Mumbai won’t get any wickets and he can keep victory out of their reach. He scored magnificent 156 runs and kept his team in commanding position. He played for six hours and showed his caliber that he has it all that makes him a top contender for the middle order batsmen in Indian Team.
The captains called off the game with nine mandatory overs remaining. It was only the second time in the last 14 years that the winner of the Irani Cup has been decided by a first-innings lead.
