Gujarat put Rest on the mat in Irani Cup

Skipper Pujara only batsman to provide semblance of fight

Gujarat’s Chintan Gaja and Hardik Patel shared six wickets between them to reduce the Rest of India (ROI) side to 206/9 after the second day’s play at the ongoing Irani Cup ended at the Brabourne Stadium here yesterday.

Tailenders Pankaj Singh (7 not out) and Mohammad Siraj (8 not out) were at the crease when the stumps were drawn for the day. Barring skipper Cheteshwar Pujara (86) and Maharashtra opener Akhil Herwadkar (48), the ROI batting failed drastically in their pursuit of overhauling Gujarat’s first innings score of 358.

Medium pacer Gaja and left-arm spinner Hardik Patel took three wickets each to trigger the opposition’s collapse, which saw five of their

(Chirag Gandhi 169, Siddharth Kaul 5/86, Pankaj Singh 4/104) vs

(Cheteshwar Pujara 86, Akhil Herwadkar 48, Chintan Gaja 3/46, Hardik Patel 3/73).

Rest of India

batsmen, including regular India wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha (0), back with single digit scores.

Opening the batting with Herwadkar, Tamil Nadu’s Abhinav Mukund (8) only managed to put 21 runs on the board before Gaja got him caught by Samit Gohel. Herwadkar and Pujara then stabilised the innings with a 68-run second wicket stand to take ROI to 89 before Patel dismissed the Maharashtra batsman.

Karnataka’s Karun Nair (28) then joined Pujara for a 47-run third wicket stand before Gaja packed back the right-hander to initiate the batting collapse.