Vidarbha Conquer Irani Trophy Despite Dhull, Suthar's Valiant Half-Centuries

Vidarbha became the first team since Karnataka in 2014/15 to win the Irani Cup outright following their 93-run win over Rest of India on Sunday, October 5. After dominating much of the contest, Vidarbha successfully defended their 361-run target on the final day with Harsh Dubey leading the way with 4-73.

Resuming the day on 35/2, having already lost both openers the previous evening, ROI faced an early setback after losing captain Rajat Patidar in the fifth over of the day. They struggled to stitch together a partnership to rebuild and were quickly reduced to 80/5 after Ruturaj Gaikwad and Ishan Kishan fell in quick succession. While Yash Dhull and Saransh Jain managed to add 53 for the sixth wicket, their stand ended when Parth Rekhade trapped Jain LBW to leave ROI on 156/6 at lunch.

ROI managed to mount some resistance thereafter with Dhull and Suthar stringing a 104-run stand. Dhull looked good for a century as he played with freedom and fluency - striking eight fours and a six. However, Yash Thakur managed to end his stay on 92 and also dismissed Anshul Kamboj the very next delivery. Suthar continued to fight and even raised his fifty but eventually ran out of partners with Vidarbha managing to wrap the game up before tea.

Brief Scores: Vidarbha 342 & 232 beat Rest of India 214 & 267 (Yash Dhull 92, Manav Suthar 56*; Harsh Dubey 4-73, Aditya Thakare 2-27) by 93 runs