Despite the match ending in a draw, the famed Mumbai side clinched their 15th Irani Cup, after playing out a draw against Rest of India on Saturday, in Lucknow. Despite showing a late fight in the match, the Ruturaj Gaikwad-led side fell short, after having conceded a first innings lead of 121 runs.
Irani Cup, Rest of India vs Mumbai
It all started poorly for the Mumbai side on the first day, when, within the first hour they lost three quick wickets, It was then that Ajinkya Rahane and Shreyas Iyer bailed the team out of trouble with scores of 97 and 57, respectively. But then, the real show came from Sarfaraz Khan, who showed, that he is a must in Team India, with a superlative innings of 222.
In reply of 537, Rest of India were largely guided by Easwaran (191) and Dhruv Jurel (93), who did their best to wipe off the deficit, but fell short by a big margin. Their innings folded on 416, with Tanush Kotian and Shams Mulani picking three wickets each.
Sarfaraz Khan, Tanush Kotian Shine
With a lead of 121, ROI would have fancied their chances of bundling out Mumbai cheaply, and they chasing down the target, but that was not to be. After Prithvi Shaw scored a blistering 76, after a mini-collapse, Mumbai once again showed their supremacy. Tanush Kotian slammed an unbeaten 114, while Mohit Avasthi smashed 50. It was then, that both the skippers — Easwaran and Ajinkya Rahane called it quits, and shook hands to end the match.
