Rest of India on Wednesday lifted the Irani Trophy for the sixth consecutive time, crushing a hapless Rajasthan by 404 runs with a superb bowling performance on the fifth and final day in Jaipur. With ROI having already secured the title after taking the first innings lead, Rajasthan's only aim was to avoid an outright defeat but they failed to do so due to a disciplined bowling show by their opponents. Shikhar Dhawan was the adjudged the man-of-the-match for scoring a century each in both the innings.
On day five, Rajasthan required 590 runs with ten wickets in hand. But the batsmen failed to make any impact whatsoever and were dismissed for 213. After ending with a 5-wicket haul in the first innings, Pragyan Ojha impressed in the second innings too with 4-60 in 22 overs. Aakash Chopra and Vineet Saxena could not add much to the overnight tally. Skipper Hrishikesh Kanitkar also lost his wicket cheaply and then it all went downhill for Rajasthan from there. 24-year-old Madhur Khatri continued to fight for the home side with his gutsy 53-run knock but could not do enough to save the match. Rahul Sharma with figures 2-49 went for a few runs, but youngster Umesh Yadav (2-14) bowled impressively and claimed the important wicket of Rajasthan skipper Kanitkar. Rajasthan didn't look like they could even draw the game after their dismal performance in the first innings which let Rest of India pile on the runs and inch closer to the Cup.
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