Rest of India win Irani Cup outright

Rest of India completed a 404-run win against Rajasthan on the fifth day of the Irani Cup in Jaipur. Rajasthan began the day with all their wickets intact but Rest of India, who had already won the trophy on the first-innings lead, got rid of the hosts' top order in the morning session to set up the outright win.

Rajasthan's openers had a nervy start. In the second over of the day, Aakash Chopra edged Vinay Kumar but the ball fell short of slip. Vineet Saxena edged Varun Aaron for four soon after. The close calls sent the pair into defensive mode and they played out five maidens. Just when Rajasthan seemed to have safely negotiated the early burst from Rest of India - Saxena guided Umesh Yadav past point, while Chopra drove Aaron through covers - Pragyan Ojha struck. He got Chopra to drive at a flighted delivery and took the edge.

Hrishikesh Kanitkar, the Rajasthan captain, did not last long, edging a bouncy Yadav delivery that was angled into him to wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel. Rest of India struck twice in quick succession again before lunch, with Vinay bowling Saxena and Ojha trapping Robin Bist lbw, to take control of the game.

For a while, Rashmi Parida and Ashok Menaria looked like they would hold off Rest of India like they did in the first-innings. But the resistance was cut short when Menaria lost his composure and went after a short, wide ball from Yadav, only to offer Parthiv another catch. Rest of India continued to knock off the wickets in pairs, as Rahul Sharma - who did not have the best day, spraying the ball around a bit - had Rohit Jalani lbw for a duck. Sharma picked up a couple of wickets after that, though, as Parida holed out and Deepak Chahar had his off stump uprooted.

Madhur Khatri produced the only innings of note for Rajasthan, a boundary-studded 53. Khatri cut and pulled, and managed a few drives down the ground and through the covers, before edging to Abhinav Mukund at third slip. Ojha wrapped up the match two overs later, as Sunil Mathur charged down the track, missed and was stumped. It was Ohja's fourth wicket, to go with his first-innings five-for. Rest of India opener Shikhar Dhawan, who struck two blistering centuries in the match, was named Player of the Match.