Jaipur, Oct 1: At the end of Day 1 of the five-day Irani Cup match, Rest of India (ROI) had scored 400 for the loss of three wickets against Ranji Trophy champions Rajasthan.
Despite having pacers like Varun Aaron, Umesh Yadav and Vinay Kumar in the fold, ROI opted to bat first on a wicket that appeared seamer-friendly.
The ROI batsmen did not let their skipper down as they piled on the runs at Sawai Mansingh stadium here. Openers Abhinav Mukund and Shikhar Dhawan put together a 77-run stand before the former was bowled by Sumit Mathur for 18 runs. Dhawan, on the other hand, slammed 177 runs off 165 balls and was unfortunate to have missed out on a well-deserved double-century. The Delhi batsman looked in good nick until he attempted to slog sweep Madhur Khatri, only to find his woodwork dismantled by the off-spinner. The southpaw was involved in a partnership for 190 runs with his team-mate Ajinkya Rahane who also went on to make a century.
Rahane, who recently made his ODI debut in England, played a patient knock and remained unbeaten on 117 runs off 212 balls when stumps were called.
Manish Pandey, who had joined Rahane at the fall of Dhawan's wicket, departed soon after. Pandey, who had a good domestic season, was trapped lbw by Aniket Choudhary for 16 runs, all of which came in the form of boundaries. ROI skipper Parthiv Patel, who replaced Pandey at the crease, remained not out on 55.
While Choudhary, Mathur and Khatri picked a wicket each, Deepak Chahar remained wicketless and conceded 120 runs. Ashok Menaria also bowled one over while Robin Bist gave away 16 runs in his five overs.
Brief scores (At the end of Day 1): ROI 1st innings 400/3 in 90 overs (S Dhawan 177, A Rahane 117*, P Patel 55*)
