Published: Mar 10, 2016, 04:53 PM (IST)
Edited: Mar 10, 2016, 05:15 PM (IST)
Rest of India (ROI) pull off an incredible chase to beat 41 times Ranji Trophy champions Mumbai by four wickets. Needing 480 to win the match with a day and a half to go, ROI went about their job without much fuss as they reached the target with just a few overs left in the match. Left-arm spinner Iqbal Abdullah picked up five wickets in the fourth innings, but his team fell short in the end. This is not only ROI’s highest score in the fourth innings, but also their highest successful run chase, with the previous best being 273 for 4 against Baroda in 2001, under the leadership of VVS Laxman. Mumbai’s wait for an Irani Cup continues. They last won the coveted trophy way back in the 1997-98 season. Full updates: Mumbai vs Rest of India, Irani Cup 2015-16, Day 5 at Brabourne Stadium
Railways opener Faiz Fazal scored a magnificent century for ROI in the fourth innings to help his side chase down an imposing target. He built excellent partnerships with KS Bharat, and Sudip Chatterjee for the first and second wicket to put his side on course to a win. Chatterjee scored 54 and Karun Nair missed out a well-deserved ton for the second time in the match, but it kept ROI in the hunt. After skipper Naman Ojha’s run out, Sheldon Jackson and Stuart Binny’s 92-run stand for the sixth wicket assured ROI of a win in the end.
On Day One, Mumbai had won the toss and elected to bat first. They put on 603 runs on the board in their first innings, courtesy of centuries from Jay Bista and Suryakumar Yadav. Akhil Herwadkar, Shreyas Iyer, Aditya Tare and Siddhesh Lad struck half-centuries as well. Off-spinner Jayant Yadav was the pick of the bowlers for ROI in this match, picking up a total of eight wickets in the match.
ROI were bowled out for 306 in their first innings, thereby conceding a lead of 297 runs. Mumbai did not enforce the follow-on, but were bowled out for just 182, thereby setting ROI a target of 480. No other bowler barring Abdullah managed to pick up a single wicket as ROI romped home.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai 603 (Jay Bista 104, Suryakumar Yadav 156; Jaydev Unadkat 2 for 128, Jayant Yada4 for 132) & 182 (Suryakumar Yadav 49, Siddhesh Lad 60; Jayant Yadav 4 for 93, Jaydev Undakat 3 for 16) lost to Rest of India 306 (Karun Nair 94, Jaydev Unadkat 48; Abhishek Nayar 3 for 35, Jay Bista 2 for 52) & 482 for 6 (Faiz Fazal 127, Karun Nair 92; Iqbal Abdullah 5 for 154) by 4 wickets.
