Rest of India lift Irani Cup after Madhya Pradesh collapse for 198
Mukesh Kumar and Atit Sheth dismantled MP’s middle order before Saurabh Kumar and Pulkit Narang ran through the tail
ESPNcricinfo staff05-Mar-2023
The Rest of India players pose with the Irani Cup•Gwalior Divisional CA
Mukesh Kumar and Atit Sheth dismantled Madhya Pradesh’s middle order before Saurabh Kumar and Pulkit Narang ran through the tail to help Rest of India complete a 238-run win and lift the Irani Cup just before lunch on the final day in Gwalior. Yashasvi Jaiswal, who scored 213 and 144 across the game, was named the Player of the Match.Even though Navdeep Saini took just one wicket, he was the one who started MP’s slump. Himanshu Mantri resumed his innings on 51 but Saini had him caught behind with the third ball of the day. Mantri, however, expressed his disappointment with the decision, had a chat with the umpires and took a while before dragging himself to the pavilion.Yash Dubey, fresh off a first-innings century, started positively with a couple of fours but had his off stump cartwheeled by Mukesh. Aman Solanki joined Harsh Gawli, who was looking solid, and the two put up a 49-run stand for the fifth wicket. Solanki punished the odd overpitched deliveries, and the tiring pacers were removed from the attack. Then he hit Saurabh and Sheth for three boundaries in the space of five balls but a couple of overs later, Sheth knocked him over. In his next over, Sheth nicked off Saransh Jain to make it 151 for 6.Gawli and Ankit Kushwah took the side to 188 before Narang trapped Gawli lbw with an offbreak that turned viciously and kept low. MP lost their last four wickets, all to Narang and Saurabh, in 19 balls for just ten runs to end the proceedings.