As it happened: Vidarbha clinches Irani Cup title

Vidarbha clinches Irani Cup title, caps off its domestic season in style.

Vidarbha's Wasim Jaffer sent Rest of India on a leather hunt on the first day's play.

Wadkar scores a fifty and Faiz Fazal decides that'd be it. Vidarbha caps off its domestic season by bagging the Irani Trophy.

3:37 pm: Mayank Agarwal, R. Samarth, Prithvi Shaw - all part-timers rolling their arms now as RoI continues to go through the motions. Vidarbha 75/0.

3:25 pm: Vidarbha bringing up its 50 in 20 overs. With the trophy in its kitty, the Ranji champion is in no hurry whatsoever; evident from the rather sedate start both its openers have given so far.

Vidarbha 52/0.

Welcome back to the third and final session of this match. Mayank Agarwal with the ball.

TEA TIME: Three wickets and 87 runs coming in that session; RoI losing all three. Ramaswamy and Wadkar are off to a cautious start with the former struggling to break the shackles. We'll be back soon.

2:45 PM: Wadkar clearly the more aggressive of the two batsmen, picking up two boundaries off one Nadeem over. Ramaswamy scored his first run after 30 balls, and moments later followed it up with a delightful drive through the covers. Vidarbha 25/0.

2:35 pm: Ramaswamy is yet to get off the mark! Jayant and Nadeem operating in tandem.  Vidarbha leads by 416 runs. Vidarbha 6/0.

2:20 pm: A steady start from the two openers. Vidarbha in the driver's seat and can afford to dictate the pace of the innings as it deems fit. Vidarbha 6/0.

Vidarbha to start its second innings! Akshay Wadkar and Sanjay Ramaswamy to open the innings this time around, Navdeep Saini with the new ball.

There it is! Vihari holes out to the man at long on. He departs for 183. RoI all out for 390. It trails by 410 runs.

Wicket No. 9 ! Kaul fails to fend off a Umesh bouncer, ends up offering a simple catch to Sanjay Ramaswamy at forward short leg. RoI 389/9.

1:44 pm: Vidarbha is just two wickets away from taking the first innings lead. Vihari just 18 runs short of a double hundred. He has Siddharth Kaul for company.  Rest of India trails by 411 runs. RoI 389/8.

1:23 pm: After getting a reprieve from wicket-keeper Wadkar, Vihari has continued to impress with the bat; collecting two boundaries in quick succession to take his tally to 179. RoI 385/8

1:09 pm: Shahbaz Nadeem cleaned up by Sawrwate. Another wicket down! RoI 372/8.

12:55 pm: Umesh Yadav peppering Nadeem with short balls; Vihari going strong on 163. RoI 362/7.

12:39 pm: 150-up for Hanuma Vihari and this just keeps getting better. Vihari continues to stonewall Vidarbha's charge. Can he convert this into a double? RoI 352/7.

Welcome back to the second session. Aditya Thakare to start proceedings with the ball, Hanuma Vihari on strike.

LUNCH TIME: RoI rode on a partnership between Hanuma Vihari and Jayant Yadav to further reduce the deficit before Jayant was caught short of his crease by wicket-keeper Wadkar; the former departing for a well-crafted 96. But Vidarbha has smelt blood here and the onus will be on Vihari to sustain this riposte when play resumes after lunch. Rest of India trails by 458 runs.

11:35 am: Vihari unfazed by what's hapening at the other end as he hammers Umesh Yadav for two back-to-back boundaries; a straight drive followed by one through extra cover. RoI 336/7.

A wicket against the run of play here as Jayant departs for 96! Beaten by turn and bounce on that occasion, Sarwate's back leg was out of the crease when Akshay Wadkar took the bails off. RoI 314/7.

11:20 am: Jayant brings up his 100 as well. He has played an able second fiddle to Vihari at the other end. The duo has brought up its double century stand. RoI 306/6.

11:10 am: Jayant into the nineties with a boundary through the cover region. 300-up for RoI . 304/6.

11:00 am: Gurbani drops one short, and Jayant punches it past backward point for four. He's now 13 shy of his hundred, is Jayant. The partnership between Vihari and Jayant is now 196 off 436 balls! RoI 294/6.

10:47 am: Looks like another tough day in the office for the Vidarbha fielders as Jayant and Vihari continue to deadbat, occasionally punishing the loose deliveries. RoI 282/6.

10:29 am: And there it is. Vihari gets to his hundred with a boundary towards third-man. A super knock so far, demonstrating assurance on a track where his other team-mates have failed to deliver. RoI 271/6.

Our correspondent Amol Karhadkar from the VCA Stadium reports: Eleven overs in the morning, including eight with the new ball, but Vidarbha continue to be frustrated by Vihari and Jayant.

10:11 am: Vihari stamping his authority with a fine cover-drive off Aditya Thakare. He has moved on to 92. RoI 259/6.

9:55 am: 250 comes up for RoI with a delectable straight drive from Vihari. The duo has racked up 152 runs. RoI 250/6.

9:48 am : Vihari defending ball after ball. No harm, mind you, considering RoI has a long way to go and little ammunition left (four wickets). In the meantime, Faiz Fazal searching for wickets with two slips and two gullies waiting for Vihari to make a mistake. RoI 246/6.

RoI still trails by 555 runs!

9:36 am: The partnership between Vihari and Yadav is now worth 147 off 325 balls. Yadav batting on 69 and Vihari on 83. Meanwhile, Umesh Yadav getting the new ball to talk without any luck, yet. RoI 245/6.

Vidarbha has taken the second new ball.

9:30 am: Jayant Yadav began the day with a streaky boundary through the covers. Left-arm spinner Sarwate and Umesh Yadav oprating in tandem for the time being. RoI 244/6.

Good morning.

Although a wicket has continued to elude Vidarbha in this last phase of play, the day and the contest belongs to it. Gurbani & Co. had reduced Rest of India to 97 for 6 at one stage, on what can be termed a true and gentle batting track.

Vihari, though, has led the resistance alongside Jayant Yadav in a useful partnership of 138 runs. Though still far from restoring parity for their team, the two have mitigated to an extent the one-sidedness of the contest.