Rest of India upset all predictions by chasing down 480 to win the Irani Cup match, against Ranji champion Mumbai, at the Brabourne Stadium here on Thursday.
Akhil Herwadkar’s direct hit from point, which saw the exit of Rest captain Naman Ojha, kindled hopes of a home team win but Stuart Binny’s big blows (54, 3x4, 2x6) and an equally dynamic performance by Sheldon Jackson (59 not out, 4x4, 1x6) took their side past the finishing line in the mandatory overs.
It was the third-highest run chase in India’s domestic first-class tournament history (see factbox) and Rest’s win was memorable because it was behind in the first innings by 297 runs.
Five for AbdullaThe proud men in the Rest ranks would have been the bowling pair of Jaydev Unadkat and Jayant Yadav, who skittled out Mumbai for 182 in the second innings.
The task in hand for Rest was arduous but its batsmen rose to the occasion on a pitch that did not offer anything to the Mumbai seamers. Spinner Iqbal Abdulla, who took five for 154, did not have another specialist to complement him.
It is the second time in three months that a Mumbai team has lost a title match after setting a 400-plus target.
Its Cooch Behar Trophy team had gone down to Uttar Pradesh, after setting a target of 446, in January.
After a decent start on Wednesday, the Rest middle order did not fall prey to the defensive field set by the home team captain or when Abdulla bowled a negative line from over the wicket and wide of the crease.
Two century standsLeft-handers Faiz Fazal (Vidarbha) and Sudip Chatterjee (Bengal) put on 112 for the second wicket and thereafter Fazal (127, 10x4) and Karnataka’s Karun Nair (92, 132b, 7x4) consolidated with 128 runs for the third.
In spite of losing Fazal and Man-of-the-match Karun, Rest was always in the race for the honours.
Binny and Jackson made light of the setback caused by Ojha’s dismissal. The duo put on a rousing 92 run-stand in 56 minutes with Binny lifting two straight sixes and hitting three to the fence.
Expansive drives in front of the wicket by Jackson, off Abdulla, took Rest to a great victory.
Mumbai was forced to take the new ball after 100 overs and Tare kept faith in Abdulla. But on a day when an assorted group of determined batsmen from all parts of the country showed their might and fought till the end, the champion team was floored in its backyard.
The scores:
Mumbai — 1st innings: 603.
Rest of India — 1st innings: 306.
Mumbai — 2nd innings: 182.
Rest of India — 2nd innings: Faiz Fazal st. Tare b Abdulla 127, Srikar Bharat b Abdulla 42, Sudip Chatterjee c & b Abdulla 54, Karun Nair c Shreyas b Abdulla 92, Naman Ojha run out 29, Sheldon Jackson (not out) 59, Stuart Binny c Bista b Abdulla 54, Jayant Yadav (not out) 19; Extras (lb-1, nb-1, w-4): 6; Total (for six wkts. in 129.4 overs): 482.
Fall of wickets: 1-66, 2-178, 3-306, 4-336, 5-353, 6-445.
Mumbai bowling: Dhawal Kulkarni 19-3-58-0, Shardul Thakur 12-2-49-0, Jay Bista 23-0-98-0, Abhishek Nayar 11-4-28-0, Suryakumar Yadav 6-0-23-0, Iqbal Abdulla 42.4-2-154-5, Balwinder Singh Sandhu (jr) 6-1-17-0, Siddhesh Lad 3-0-17-0, Shreyas Iyer 7-0-37-0.
Man-of-the-match: Karun Nair.
Rest of India won the Irani Cup by four wickets.
