Gwalior, March 5 () Riding high on Yashasvi Jaiswal and Abhimanyu Easwaran’s scintillating batting display followed by a quality bowling display, Rest of India (ROI) registered a massive 238-run win over Madhya Pradesh to retain the Irani Cup trophy here on Sunday.
Chasing a daunting target of 437, last year’s Ranji Trophy champions MP was bundled out for 198 in 58.4 overs during the opening session of the fifth and final day here at the Captain Roop Singh Stadium.
Resuming the day on 81/2, with skipper Himanshu Mantri batting on 51. But Saini got him caught behind on the third bowl of the day. Mantri, however, expressed his disappointment with the decision.
After Mantri’s dismissal, MP kept losing wickets at regular intervals as Mukesh Kumar trapped Yash Dubey for 8, reducing MP to 94-4. Then, Aman Solanki and Harsh Gawli put up a 49-run stand for the fifth wicket, taking their side to 188 before Narang trapped Gawli lbw.
MP lost their last four wickets in 19 balls for just ten runs to Narang and Saurabh and ended the proceedings for the score of 198.
For ROI, Mukesh Kumar, Atit Sheth and Pulkit Narang claimed two wickets apiece while Navdeep Saini scalped one and left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar got three to dismantle MP’s batting in the second inning to seal the victory.
Earlier, Yashasvi, who was adjudged Player of the Match, scored 213 and 144 for ROI across his two innings. While, Eswaran with whom he shared a triple hundred plus stand, scored 154 to take the ROI first inning score to 484.
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