Irani Cup: Dubey, Thakur shine as Vidarbha beats Rest of India by 93 runs

NAGPUR: Yash Dhull smashed his way to 92 but Vidarbha bowling unit proved too good for Rest of India as it comfortably won the Irani Cup by 93 runs here on Sunday.

Chasing a target of 361, Rest of India was all out for 267 in the second session of the fifth day with left-arm spinner Harsh Dubey (4/73) and pacer Yash Thakur (2/47) doing bulk of the damage.

Vidarbha now has played three Irani Cup games and won all three.

Credit would go to Dubey and Thakur -- both of whom had a match-haul of six wickets and did well enough to get majority of the 20 Rest of India wickets across two innings.

Rest had slumped to 133 for six during the first session on the final morning but it was Dhull and Manav Suthar (56), who got Rest of India back in the game with a 104-run stand for the seventh wicket stand.

However it was Thakur who put paid to Rest’s hopes of an improbable win when Dhull tried to slash him but Atharva Taide at deep third man boundary took a well-judged catch inches inside the boundary ropes.

The dismissal was followed by an ugly incident where bowler Thakur and Delhi man Dhull nearly came to exchanging blows after the former had given the batter a rather rude send off.

The two umpires and Vidarbha fielders came between them to calm things but both will get some sort of sanction from the match referee.

Off the very next ball, Thakur cleaned up Akash Deep and before Dubey, last year’s highest wicket-taker in Ranji Trophy, ended the game in style.

“Vidarbha played well and were deserving winners. If we had applied ourselves in a better way, after assessing the conditions, I think we could have come close to the total,” Rest of India skipper Rajat Patidar said after the end of the match.

For Vidarbha, Atharva Taide, who scored 143 in their first essay and took a timely catch to dismiss danger man Dhull was adjudged player of the match.

The national selectors, who are looking at the overall picture, also would be happy that Akash Deep looked fully fit having recovered from his shoulder injury suffered during the Oval Test against England in August.

Akash bowled 29 overs (19 and 10) across both innings and took three wickets. He looked sharp during his first spell.

Brief scores: Vidarbha 342 & 232 bt Rest of India 214 & 267 in 73.5 overs (Y Dhull 92, M Suthar 56*, H Dubey 4/73)