Irani Cup 2022-23, Rest Of India vs Madhya Pradesh: Yashasvi Jaiswal's 213 & 144 clear differential; Rest Of India win by 238 runs.
Brief Scores: Rest of India 484 (Jaiswal 213, Easwaran 154, Avesh 4/74) & 246 (Yashasvi Jaiswal 144, Shubham Sharma 2/9) beat Madhya Pradesh 294 (Yash Dubey 109, Pulkit Narang 4/65) & 198 (Himanshu Mantri 51, Saurabh Kumar 3/60) by 238 runs
Player of the Match: Yashasvi Jaiswal – 213 & 144
Led by an all-round display, Rest of India defeated Ranji Trophy 2022 winners, Madhya Pradesh by 238 runs in Irani Cup 2022-23 at the Captain Roop Singh Stadium in Gwalior on March 5.
Yashasvi Jaiswal of Rest of India dominated the Madhya Pradesh bowling attack, cracking a double ton followed by a century, in the process, aggregating 357 runs in the match – the most ever by any batter in Irani Cup history. Pulkit Narang then led the demolition job with the ball, taking a match haul of 6 wickets against Madhya Pradesh.
Rest of India put up a strong batting display on Day 1
Mayank Agarwal, the Rest of India captain, won the toss and chose to bat and his decision was vindicated with his team putting up 381/3 at stumps on the first day. Opener Abhimanyu Easwaran cracked a 240-ball 154, while No. 3 batter Jaiswal made a swashbuckling 259-ball 213.
Jaiswal went hard after MP bowlers, hitting 30 fours and 3 sixes and clicked at a strike rate of 82.33. The two helped Rest of India recover from a poor start as opener Agarwal edged it behind for 2 off Avesh Khan’s bowling. Easwaran and Jaiswal then posted a second-wicket stand of 371 runs before both were dismissed off successive balls at the fag end of the day. Jaiswal was bowled by Avesh, while Easwaran fell the next ball via a run out. Rest of India were finally bowled out for 484, with Yash Dhull also contributing with 55 runs off 71 balls. Avesh took 4/74 for MP.
MP concede big lead
In reply, MP had a horrifying start, being reduced to 2-2, with openers Himanshu Mantri (1) and Arham Aquil (0) back to the pavilion. Soon, they were reduced to 15/3, losing Shubham Sharma for 4, before a 114-run stand between Harsh Gawli (54) and Yash Dubey (109) for the fourth wicket rescued MP. Navdeep Saini broke the stand, dismissing Gawli bowled.
A fighting 66 from Saransh Jain helped MP reduce the deficit to 190 runs as MP folded up for 294. Pulkit Narang was the star bowler for Rest of India, taking 4/65.
Jaiswal leads the fight again in the second innings
Once again, Jaiswal led the fightback for Rest of India, and was the lone man standing, scoring 144 runs off 157 balls with 16 fours and 3 sixes even as wickets kept tumbling at the other end. The next best score was 30 runs by Atit Sheth, as Jaiswal single-handedly destroyed the MP bowling attack in the second innings.
Jaiswal’s dominance can be observed from the fact that when he came to the crease, Rest of India were 1/1, and when he departed at 239/8, the team could only manage 7 runs more and were bowled out for 246.
MP fizzle out under huge target pressure
Set a target of 437 runs, MP had a poor start again, losing opener Arham Aquil for a second-ball duck. MP’s captain-cum-opener Himanshu Mantri tried to resurrect the innings, cracking 51 before he edged to keeper Upendra Yadav off Navdeep Saini’s bowling. Harsh Gawli delayed the inevitable with a knock of 48, before his dismissal saw MP lose their last 4 wickets for 10 runs and the match by 238 runs.
Domestic cricket focus now shifts to Vizzy Trophy 2022-23
The next tournament in senior Men’s domestic cricket circuit during this season will be Vizzy Trophy to be played in the List A format between North, South, East and West Zones. All the matches in this event – six round-robin games followed by a final between the top two teams - will be held at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh Stadium in Raipur from March 10 to 16.
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