Ashwin, Chawla spin Rest of India to victory

Anjikya Rahane's gutsy 191 was in vain as the tweak duo of R Ashwin and Piyush Chawla claimed nine wickets between them to help Rest of India humble Mumbai by 361 runs and clinch the Irani Trophy title for the fifth consecutive year.

Chasing an improbable target of 782 to win at the Sawai Mansingh stadium, the Ranji Trophy champions were skittled out for 420, thanks to a clinical display by off-spinner Ashwin (5/106) and leg-spinner Chawla (4/113).

Rahane, who hit 30 boundaries, and skipper Wasim Jaffer, who cracked a gritty 88, could only delay the inevitable, as both spinners extracted enough turn and bounce to trouble Mumbai's batsmen.

Resuming the day on 79 for no loss, with Sushant Marathe already retired-hurt, the big chase was always difficult as Jaffer and Rahane tried for a draw.

But Mumbai's skipper ran himself out when the team total was 146. Rahane, however, continued with his form and reached the three-digit mark after spending 120 balls.

He looked to be well set for the second double ton of the match, after the unbeaten 204 by Rest of India skipper Yuvraj Singh on Monday, but the wickets kept falling at the other end.

Finally, Rahane was deceived by Ashwin.

He played uppishly to short midwicket, where A Mukund took a fine catch to bring the 220-ball innings to an end.

Dhawal Kulkarni (17) and Iqbal Abdulla (12) then frustrated the Rest of India and it appeared that they might avert defeat.

But with just an over to spare, Kulkarni fell to Chawla and with that it was the end of Mumbai's fight.

After losing the toss, Mumbai was always on the backfoot and their situation became worse when they suffered a 394-run deficit in the first innings of the match, which saw 1,749 runs being scored in five days.

Brief scores:

Rest of India: 668 and 387/3 decl.

Mumbai: 274 and 420 (A Rahane 191, W Jaffer 88; R Ashwin 5/106, P Chawla 4/113).