In the Irani Trophy matchup versus Saurashtra, Saurabh
Kumar’s all-around play helped the side win the upper hand. At stumps,
Saurashtra had 212 for 9 in response to the 308 scored by the Rest of India.
Vidwath Kaverappa and Saurabh each took three wickets, giving them hope of
taking the lead after the first inning.
After Saurashtra had early-morning wiped out the rest
of India, they were immediately put in trouble when fast bowler Kaverappa
dismissed Harvik Desai and Chiraj in his first two overs. With Sheldon Jackson
and Samarth Vyas being caught by Saurabh, a score of 1 for 1 became a 77 for 5
result. 81 balls and 29 runs later, Cheteshwar Pujara was out, bowled by
right-arm offspinner Pulkit Narang. In the final session, Kaverappa added
another wicket, giving him a total of 3 for 28 in his nine overs.
Arpit Vasavada created a patient fifty years while
Saurashtra was in need of repairs. He added 54 runs for the seventh wicket with
Parth Bhut, who had earlier taken five wickets, after initially forming a
47-run partnership with Prerak Mankad for the sixth wicket. Only two boundaries
were hit during Vasavada’s 127-ball innings, but he still managed to score 54
runs before being bowled out by Saurabh ten minutes before the end of play.
Prior to being Bhut’s sixth victim, Saurabh, who was
ranked eighth, had raised his total to 39 points, including five fours, until
Rest of India folded just after reaching the 300-point threshold.