The Irani Cup 2018 was won by Vidarbha on basis of first innings lead against Rest of India.
Vidarbha piled on 800/7d in the first innings on back of Wasim Jaffer’s record breaking 286, G Satish’s 120 and Apoorv Wankhade’s 157*. Rest of India bowlers had a hard time bowling on a placid Nagpur pitch.
The Vidarbha bowlers fared better on the same pitch as Rest of India crashed to 98/6 despite Prithvi Shaw’s 51. However Hanuma Vihari (183 with 23 fours and 3 sixes) and Jayant Yadav (96 with 14 fours) added 216 runs for the 7th wicket and took ROI to 390 all out.
Vihari was the last man out and his innings was one of a statement, after he was snubbed during the IPL 2018 auctions and had to vent out his feelings and this innings did that just.
Rajneesh Gurbani was the most successful bowler for Vidarbha, picking 4/70 and Aditya Sarwate picked up 3/97; with Team India speedster Umesh Yadav picking 2/72.
Vidarbha batted for a second time and scored 79/0 with AV Wadkar hitting 50*, after which the two captains mutually called off play and declared the game drawn. Vidarbha won on basis of first innings lead and added another domestic trophy to their cabinet after the Ranji Trophy.
Wasim Jaffer was named the Player of the Match for his record high score of 286.
BRIEF SCORES:
VIDARBHA 800/7d (W JAFFER 286, A WANKHADE 157*, G SATISH 120) & 79/0 (A WADKAR 50*)
REST OF India 390 (H VIHARI 183, J YADAV 96; R GURBANI 4/70)
Match drawn – Vidarbha win on basis of first innings lead
