Irani Cup | Hanuma Vihari help Rest of India tight the grip after Vidarbha lose Faiz Fazal in chase of 280

Brief scores: Vidarbha 37/1 ( Sanjay Raghunath 17*, Atharwa Taide 16*; Ankit Rajpoot 1/10) require more 243 runs at the end of Day four of the Irani Cup.

India all-rounder Hanuma Vihari scored his second consecutive century in the ongoing match between Rest of India and Vidarbha in Nagpur. Mumbai lads - Ajinkya Rahane and Shreyas Iyer - helped out with scores of 87 and 61* respectively to lead their team to a respectable total of 373/3 before they opted to declare, setting Vidarbha a target of 280.

Vihari's third-wicket stand of 229 runs with Rahane changed the complexion of the game completely as the duo started from an overnight score of 102 for two, with the two adding 110 in the morning session and added a further 63 before Rahane was dismissed. That was Vidarbha's first and only wicket of the day, with Shreyas Iyer hitting a fluent 61 off 52 balls.

Vidarbha got off to a rather shaky start after opener and captain, Faiz Fazal, was dismissed of just the third delivery in the fourth innings of the match. However, Sanjay Raghunath and Atharwa Taide kept their calm to prevent a downfall of the batting order and fought hard against Rest of India’s strong bowling line-up led by Ankit Rajpoot. The two-time Ranji Trophy winners ended Day four at 37/1 and require another 243 runs on the final day of the Irani Cup tie to seal a win against their opponents.