Wriddhiman Saha's career-best first-class knock of 203 was the stand-out performance as Rest of India lifted the Irani Cup after effortlessly chasing down a 379-run target set by Gujarat with more than two sessions to spare here on Tuesday.
Saha's 203 and skipper Cheteshwar Pujara's unbeaten 116 helped Rest of India overhaul the target with six wickets still in hand.
Wicketkeeper Saha and Pujara, unbeaten on 123 and 83 respectively last evening in a team score of 266 for four, carried on in imperious fashion on the fifth and final morning to steer the team home an hour before lunch in 19.1 overs at the Brabourne Stadium here.
This was 15th time in the last 19 editions that Rest of India had won the tournament, which is in its 55th year.
Rest of India finished with 379 for four in 103.1 overs to cruise home in style.
The duo's fifth wicket unbroken partnership was worth 316 runs in 78.5 overs. It was the second-best in the tournament's history after the highest of 327 for the fourth wicket between Ravi Shastri and Praveen Amre for Mumbai against the Rest at Bengaluru in 1990-91.
‘not my best innings’
Wriddhiman Saha remained unfazed in his finest cricketing hour and said his twin half centuries against New Zealand in Kolkata carry "more value" than his unbeaten 203 in the Irani Cup, perhaps one of his best knocks.
"You can call this one of my better batting efforts alongside my century against the West Indies at Gros Islet. But if you ask me about the innings closest to my heart, then it has to be the twin half-centuries against New Zealand at Kolkata," a composed Wriddhiman said on Tuesday.
"The unbeaten knocks of 54 and 58 were special because the pitch wasn't an easy one to bat on. Also you had one of the best exponents of swing bowling, Trent Boult, using all his variations. It was a quality New Zealand attack and that's what makes it more special," said Wriddhiman.
His decision to stand at least two feet outside the crease was talked about and he said the lack of pace of the Gujarat seamers had a lot to do with it.