Irani Cup: Jaffer double ton puts Vidarbha in commanding position

Vidarbha rode on veteran opener Wasim Jaffer's unbeaten 285 to post a mammoth 589/3 against a hapless Rest of India (ROI) attack on the second day of the Irani Cup at the VCA Stadium here on Thursday.

The 40-year-old former India opener started the day on 113 and added 172 runs more to become the highest individual scorer for the Rest of India in the Irani Cup, surpassing Murali Vijay's 266 during the 2012-13 season.

Jaffer's eighth career double hundred was laced with 34 boundaries and a six. He has faced 425 balls so far.

Jaffer had no trouble in batting out the ROI bowling attack comprising India's premier off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin (1/123 in 43 overs) and the discarded Jayant Yadav (1/149 in 38 overs) as he went on to add 289 runs for the third wicket with Ganesh Sathish (120), and then another 91 runs with Apoorv Wankhade (44 batting).

The crafty right-hander reached 250 by clipping Siddarth Kaul to the mid-wicket fence before a cover drive off Jayant got him past Vijay as the highest scorer in an Irani Cup game.

Brief Scores: Vidarbha 598/3 in 180 overs (Wasim Jaffer 285 batting, Ganesh Sathish 120, Faiz Fazal 89, Sanjay Ramaswamy 53; Ravichandran Ashwin 1/123, Jayant Yadav 1/149) vs Rest of India.

--IANS

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