Srinagar: Fast bowler Mukesh Kumar produced a lethal post-lunch spell of seam bowling to claim his 11th first-class five-wicket haul and dismantle Ranji Trophy champions Jammu and Kashmir to hand Rest of India a 167-run victory and lift their record 31st Irani Cup title here on Sunday.
Chasing a target of 279 on day four at the Sher-i-Kashmir Stadium, the hosts disintegrated in a manic one-hour session after the lunch break, as they went from 89/3 to being skittled out for a paltry 111 in 28.4 overs. Mukesh was the undisputed architect of the collapse by picking 6-33 in a relentless display of late movement and sharp length.
His devastating second-innings burst featured him taking three wickets in four deliveries and left the hosts’ middle-order completely shell-shocked. Bengal teammate Akash Deep provided ideal support in his comeback game and hit good speeds to register fine figures of 3-25, while Mukesh Choudhary picked up the key scalp of danger man Abdul Samad.
Shubham Khajuria (36), Qamran Iqbal (32) and Abdul Samad (20) were the only J&K batters to reach double figures, as the rest of the batting line-up fell like a pack of cards in the face of a relentless Rest of India fast bowling line-up.
The emphatic victory served as the perfect birthday present for skipper Rishabh Pant, who was down with fever and was watching the game from the dugout, while Sarfaraz Khan became the stand-in captain in the fourth innings and engineered an emphatic victory for the Rest of India despite conceding a crucial first-innings lead.
The morning had started with RoI resuming on 306/8 and added just 13 runs to their overnight score as J&K fast bowler Sunil Kumar wrapped up the tail, including dismissing Smaran Ravichandran for 135 off 153 balls, featuring 16 fours and five sixes. Smaran had top-scored with 68 in the first innings and was rightfully named Player of the Match.
Though J&K initially began their 279-run chase with purpose, their innings unravelled rapidly once Akash Deep got rid of opener Shubham Khajuria off the very first ball after lunch break. What followed was a swift procession of batters unable to withstand high-quality seam execution under intense pressure.
However, J&K undone their hard work with poor discipline, leaking over 20 no-balls across both innings and allowing ROI to sneak back into the contest, including for Smaran to hit a century and snatch the game from their grasp.
The contest ending in three and a half days will give immense lessons for J&K, especially in batting capitulation, as they look to start their Ranji Trophy title defence on October 11 against Madhya Pradesh in Srinagar.
Brief Scores: Rest of India 237 and 319 in 99.5 overs (Smaran Ravichandran 135, Sanat Sangwan 55; Sunil Kumar 3-56, Sahil Lotra 3-71) beat Jammu & Kashmir 278 and 111 in 28.4 overs (Shubham Khajuria 36, Qamran Iqbal 32; Mukesh Kumar 6-33, Akash Deep 3-25) by 167 runs
(IANS)
