Harbhajan Singh claimed four wickets for 31 runs as Rest of India beat Delhi by 187 runs to win the Irani Trophy, on Day 4 of the five-day match, at the Reliance stadium in Vadodara on Saturday.
Anil Kumble also excelled with the ball, claiming three for 19, as Delhi were dismissed for 190 in 60.5 overs.
Gautam Gambhir top-scored for Delhi with a valiant 91, off 176 deliveries, that included 12 boundaries, but the rest of the batsmen surrendered meekly.
Resuming at their overnight score of 113 for 3, Delhi lost a wicket in the second over the day. It was Zaheer Khan who again gave his team an early breakthrough on the fourth day when he struck with his first delivery of the morning.
Akash Chopra tried to force the left-armer through the off-side but played on to his stumps and was bowled to the first delivery he faced.
Gautam Gambhir, meanwhile, got himself going with boundaries in successive overs off Zaheer and R P Singh to progress to 77.
Harbhajan Singh took the wicket of Mithun Manhas (12) off the first ball he bowled on day four. The batsman tried to leave the ball at the last moment, but got the edge which hit the pad before going to Rahul Dravid at first slip.
Puneet Bisht showed impatience despite the presence of Gambhir at the other end. He tried to loft Harbhajan down the ground, but hit it straight down the throat of Zaheer at mid-on and was dismissed for 9.
Kumble nailed down Chetanya Nanda with a quicker delivery that struck him right in front of the stumps and Delhi were reduced to 175 for 7.
The veteran leggie had his second victim of the innings when he tricked Pradeep Sangwan with another quick delivery. The batsman was beaten all ends up by the flipper, which did not bounce much and ended up on the stumps.
Gambhir became Kumble's third victim of the day when he edged him to wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The left-hander, who scored 91 from 176 deliveries, tried to cut but the extra bounce beat him and he could only edge it.
Ishant Sharma did not offer much resistance and was caught down the leg side off Harbhajan as Delhi folded up for 190 in 60.5 overs.
Scorecard
Rest of India (1st innings): 252 all out
Delhi (1st innings): 177 all out
Rest of India (2nd innings): 302 all out
Delhi (2nd innings): Target: 378 to win
G Gambhir c Dhoni b Kumble 91 (176b, 12x4)
V Sehwag lbw b Zaheer 3 (6b)
V Kohli lbw b Zaheer 16 (26b, 2x4)
R Bhatia c Dhoni b Harbhajan 31 (69b, 5x4)
Akash Chopra b Zaheer 0 (1b)
M Manhas c Dravid b Harbhajan 12 (19b, 2x4)
P Bisht c Zaheer b Harbhajan 9 (36b, 1x4)
C Nanda lbw b Kumble 1 (11b)
P Sangwan b Kumble 1 (11b)
A Nehra not out 5 (11b)
I Sharma c Badrinath b Harbhajan 0 (4b)
Extras: (b:1, lb:15, nb:5) 21
Total: (all out in 60.5 overs) 190
Fall of wickets: Sehwag (1-5), Kohli (2-37), Bhatia (3-113), Chopra (4-113), Manhas (5-159), Bisht (6-173), Nanda (7-175), Sangwan (8-183), Gambhir (9-187), Ishant (10-190).
Bowling: Zaheer Khan 12-0-47-3, RP Singh 13-2-49-0, Munaf Patel 10-3-28-0, Anil Kumble 11-4-19-3, Harbhajan Singh 14.5-4-31-4.
Result: Rest of India win by 187 runs.
