Irani Trophy: Rest of India post 298/8 at stumps Day 1 after Sai Sudharsan's 72, Parth Bhut picks four wickets

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Rest of India ended Day 1 of the Irani Trophy at 298/8 after winning the toss and electing to bat first at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot on Sunday, October 1.

Sai Sudharsan played a mature 164-ball knock for 72 runs and partnered with Mayank Agarwal (32 off 53) for 69 runs. His second-wicket stand with Rest of India captain Hamuna Vihari (33 off 75) also accounted for 69 runs.

Rest of India (ROI) were cruising at 138/1 when Saurashtra left-arm spinner Parth Bhut picked his first wicket by dismissing Vihari. The 26-year-old later dismissed Sudharsan, Yash Dhull (10) and Srikar Bharat (36 off 30) to completely derail ROI's momentum.

Two future India contenders Sarfaraz Khan (17) and Yash Dhull (10) failed once again in an important fixture, which also underlined their indifferent form in the past few months.

In fact, Dhull’s selection in Rest of India after not even scoring 300 runs have come under scanner.

Once he called correct at toss, Hanuma Vihari did not have to think twice to opt to bat, as the RoI captain could not have fancied his side batting fourth on this surface at the SCA Stadium.

His decision seemed working as openers Sudharsan and Mayank Agarwal milked 69 runs off 112 balls.

The pitch seemed a trustworthy ally in the first session too, but the first hint of turn and grip came when left-arm spinner Dharemendrasinh Jadeja made Agarwal edge one to Preark Mankad at first slip.

Sudharsan and Vihari joined forces and added a further 69 runs for the second wicket but the persistence of Bhut yielded results soon.

Vihari’s soft prod off the left-arm spinner ended in the hands of Samarth Vyas at silly point.

But Sudharsan, who recently won the English county championship with Surrey, soldiered on and looked in comfort while playing a few sweeps and drives.

His experience of playing on such pitches in league matches in Tamil Nadu came to the fore too in this innings.

But Sudharsan could not kick on as he returned to the pavilion, perishing to the Bhut-Mankad combination.

The dismissal of Sudharsan pushed the Rest of India into a mini slump as they lost three wickets for just 22 runs.

But a couple of 30s from the late order batters carried Rest of India close to the 300-run mark, and the total could prove vital on a track that is increasingly slowing down.

(With input from PTI)