Rajasthan come a cropper in Irani Cup

The plot was ready and Rest of India just needed to enact it. On Monday, they completed the act, recording an innings and 79-run win over Rajasthan in the Irani Cup match at Chinnaswamy Stadium here.

Having lost Aakash Chopra (to Himachal Pradesh) and Pankaj Singh and Rituraj Singh (on India A duty), it was always going to be difficult for the Ranji Trophy champions. They eventually capitulated, but not without a silver lining.

Robin Bist, who scored a classy century in the first innings, followed it up with a subtle 67 in the second. Rajasthan never looked in control of their innings, except when Bist was in the middle. There was little support for the youngster from the other end. And the writing was always on the wall.

Resuming at 43 for one, Vineet Saxena and captain Hrishikesh Kanitkar raised hopes of resistance by holding on to their wickets strongly. But a run out left Rajasthan at 70 for two.

Bist then scored some quick runs and soon took the team past the 100-run mark. He  had a reprieve off Ojha but a low delivery from the same bowler did him in. Earlier, Kanitkar was run out by Badrinath after he had scored 73. Dilshan Yagnik was the third batsman to be run out .

Once Bist was gone, it was just a matter of time before other batsmen succumbed to the ROI spinners, among whom Harmeet Singh shone with a four-wicket haul. Ojha claimed two wickets.

Harmeet exhibited a good temperament. The left-arm spinner, who went wicketless in the first innings, made full use of the fourth day conditions. His trajectory and control on the grip showed that he has bright future. He removed seasoned batsman RR Parida with an ideal left-arm spinner’s delivery that pitched on the off stump and kissed the bat before landing in the wicketkeeper’s gloves. Later he polished off the tail.

Kanitkar was at a loss for words to explain the run outs. “It was tragic and comic at the same time. I really cant’s explain it. Maybe it was due to loss of concentration,” said Kanitkar.

Scorecard
Rajasthan (1st innings): 253
Rest of India (1st innings): 607/7d
Rajasthan (2nd innings, O/N: 43/1): V Saxena run out (Sharma/Karthik) 18, H Kanitkar run out (Badrinath/Karthik) 73, R Bist b Ojha 67, R Parida c Karthik b H Singh 31, D Yagnik run out (Yadav) 11, D Chahar st Karthik b Ojha 9, M Khatri c Yadav b H Singh 12, G Singh c Rahane b H Singh 0, A Choudhary c Yadav b H Singh 17, S Mathur not out 19
Extras: (B4, LB8, NB2) 14
Total: (all out; 90.2 overs) 275
(3.04 runs per over)
Fall of Wickets: 2-70 (Saxena, 25.2 ov), 3-165 (Kanitkar, 52.1 ov), 4-180 (Bist, 58.4 ov), 5-206 (Yagnik, 63.6 ov), 6-215 (Chahar, 68.1 ov), 7-226 (Parida, 72.2 ov), 8-226 (Singh, 74.2 ov), 9-253 (Choudhary, 84.4 ov)
Bowling: I Sharma 13-3-38-1,
U Yadav 16-4-61-0, S Binny 13-5-33-0, P Ojha 32-7-83-2, H Singh 14.2-1-45-4 (NB2), S Badrinath 2-0-3-0