Vidarbha’s Ranji stars win Irani too

Nagpur, March 18

Reigning Ranji Trophy champions Vidarbha completed a coveted double by winning the Irani Cup, beating Rest of India by virtue of a massive first innings lead.

The hosts had made a mockery of the contest when they posted a record total of 800 in their first innings and then bowled out Rest of India for 390 on the final day today. Vidarbha won by the virtue of their huge 404-run lead.

With Rajneesh Gurbani (4/70) dismissing the top-order, left-arm spinner Aditya Sarwate (3/97) polished the lower-order despite Andhra batsman Hanuma Vihari’s gutsy 183. Out-of-favour India all-rounder Jayant Yadav scored 96 as the duo added 216 for the seventh wicket, showing that there were no demons in the pitch. Vidarbha coach Chandrakant Pandit’s decision to bat on and on in order to tire out the ROI batsmen yielded results. None of the top-order batsmen was able to show the desired footwork after spending 15 hours on the field.

Resuming at 236/6, Vihari was the lone ranger, hitting 23 boundaries and three sixes off the 327 balls he faced. Yadav hit 14 boundaries in his 230-ball knock. Sarwate finally broke the partnership in the 106th over when Yadav, in his bid to complete his hundred, was stumped by Akshay Wadkar. Vihari carried on and was the last ROI batsman to be dismissed as his attempt to hit Sarwate over long-on failed. For Rest of India, only three players crossed the 25-run mark — Prithvi Shaw, Vihari and Yadav.

The match was called off at the start of the mandatory overs when Vidarbha had reached 79/0 in their second innings. Ravichandran Ashwin didn’t bother to bowl during the inconsequential last hour. Pandit’s tactic of letting his team bat on to 800 got his team the trophy, but it did raise a pertinent question: Should coaches and teams think of fans too? Killing a contest in such a manner may only drive even the handful spectators away from the stadiums.

Brief Scores: Vidarbha: 800/7 decl and 79/0; Rest of India: 390 all out in 129.1 overs (G Hanuma Vihari 183, J Yadav 96; R Gurbani 4/70). — PTI