Irani Cup: Mukesh Kumar claims his 11th First-Class fifer
What's the story
Rest of India clinched the 2026/27 Irani Cup title after defeating Jammu and Kashmir by a whopping 167 runs in Srinagar. Mukesh Kumar shone with his bowling skills, taking six wickets for just 33 runs. This marked his 11th five-wicket haul in First-Class cricket. Thanks to his brilliant spell, ROI managed to defend 278 and bowl J&K out for 111 on Day 4.
Match breakdown
Positive start for J&K
In the 279-run chase, J&K's openers Qamran Iqbal and Shubham Khajuria gave them a solid start with a 54-run partnership. However, Akash Deep broke the stand by trapping Iqbal leg before.
Mukesh then dismissed Shubham Pundir and captain Paras Dogra in the same over, leaving J&K reeling at 65/3.
J&K's Abdul Samad and Khajuria tried to stabilize the innings for a while. However, Deep dismissed Khajuria, triggering another collapse.
Downfall
Mukesh wraps up the tail
J&K went from 89/4 to 111 all out in no time, with Mukesh running through their middle order. He picked up the last three wickets in the same over (29th).
In just 28.4 overs, J&K's chase was wrapped up, handing RoI a massive victory by 167 runs.
Mukesh shone with figures of 2/84 and 6/33 in the final.
Numbers
A look at his numbers
According to Cricinfo, this was Mukesh's 11th five-wicket haul in First-Class.
The Indian seamer fell short of emulating his career-best innings returns (6/32).
In 62 red-ball games, the right-arm pacer has taken 242 wickets at an average of 21.82. This includes a match haul of 10 wickets.
Mukesh has also taken seven wickets from three Tests at 25.57.