Irani Cup 2016-17: Day 4: Wriddhiman Saha, Cheteshwar Pujara’s heroics place ROI in brink of a famous win

A brilliant fightback from skipper Cheteshwar Pujara and wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha placed the Rest of India (ROI) on the driver’s seat. They now require another 113 to lift the Irani Cup 2016-17 against Ranji Trophy champions Gujarat at Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai. The two Indian experienced heads, Pujara and Saha, stitched an unbeaten stand of 203 for fifth wicket to put ROI in command. The partnership consisted of 24 fours and 3 sixes. Pujara eased to his second fifty in this match while Saha effortlessly got to 11th First-Class ton. As for Gujarat bowling, nothing went their way. Left-arm spinner Hardik Patel who ended with 2 wickets in second session employed to negative tactics by bowling outside the leg-stump but the patience of these two seasoned campaigners triumphed over the ploy.

Chitan Gaja who picked 4 wickets in the first innings went wicket-less. Pujara and Saha remained unbeaten on 83 and 123 at stumps. The final session of Day Four began with Pujara’s fifty off 114 deliveries. Saha, meanwhile, continued his resilient knock and got to his century in style with a boundary towards long-off from 156 deliveries. An unofficial drinks break had to be taken just half n hour after tea as Parthiv fell ill and had to be taken off the field. By then Saha and Pujara added 49 runs on board. Dhruv Raval kept the duties as wicketkeeper and Het Patel entered as a substitute.

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Live Cricket Updates: Gujarat vs Rest of India, Irani Cup 2016-17, Day 4

Where the second session saw 117 runs, the final session saw flow of 97 runs. Pujara and Saha are now just 4 runs away from setting a record of highest fifth wicket partnership for ROI. Although Saha suffered arm cramps at regular intervals, his defining knock came at a time ahead of national selection for India’s next Test against Bangladesh.

In the second session, ROI lost two early wickets of Karun Nair and Manoj Tiwary for 7 each. However, Saha joined Pujara and rubbed off his first innings score getting to his fifty ahead of Pujara. Gujarat’s Hardik reigned once again with 2 wickets while Mohit Thadani got his first.

The early morning session belonged to Siddarth Kaul and Shahbaz Nadeem who were the pick amongst the ROI bowlers. They wrapped Gujarat for 246, setting up target of 379. Meanwhile, the second half of the first session belonged to Gujarat as they found early luck removing openers Akhil Herwadkar and Abhinav Mukund in succession.

Brief score:

Gujarat 358 (Manpreet Juneja 47, Chirag Gandhi 169; Pankaj Singh 4 for 104, Siddarth Kaul 5 for 86) & 246 (Priyank Panchal 73, Chirag Gandhi 70; Siddarth Kaul 3 for 70, Shahbaz Nadeem 4 for 64) lead Rest of India 226 (Akhil Herwadkar 48, Cheteshwar Pujara 86; Chintan Gaja 4 for 60, Hardik Patel 3 for 79) & 266 for 4 (Cheteshwar Pujara 83*, Wriddhiman Saha 123*; Hardik Patel 2 for 59) by 113 runs.