Riding on a splendid bowling spell by debutant seamer Dharmendrasinh Jadeja, Saurashtra beat Madhya Pradesh by 227 runs on the fourth and final day of their Ranji Trophy Group A match and entered into knockout stage.
They may be playing in their first Ranji Trophy final in 75 years, and against a team that has 39 titles in its kitty, but Saurashtra aren't getting intimidated by their opponents' credentials. Instead, they are plotting to upset Mumbai's applecart in its own backyard, the Wankhede stadium.
They were reduced to 127 for 5, chasing a victory target of 274 on the third day of their Ranji Trophy tie.
Left-arm spinner Iresh Saxena's career-best figures of five for 17 helped Bengal dismiss hosts Saurashtra for a meagre 209 in a Ranji Trophy Group A match in Rajkot.
Roundup of matches across various venues in the Ranji Trophy 2024-25
Sitanshu Kotak stood tall amid ruins and struck a fighting hundred to steer Saurashtra to a vital first innings lead on the second day of their Ranji Trophy Elite Division tie against Maharashtra.
Suryakumar Yadav and Aditya Tare hit unbeaten half-centuries to put Mumbai in a commanding position against Madhya Pradesh on day three of the Ranji Trophy semi-final in Cuttack, on Monday.
Replying to Rajasthan's first innings of 201, the hosts were 250 for 6 at stumps on day 2 of the Ranji Trophy Plate final.
Roundup of matches across the country in the ongoing BCCI Ranji Trophy
Shivam Dube continued his recent streak of form with a counter-attacking fifty that proved to be the cornerstone of Mumbai's excellent 330 for six against Bengal
Wasim Jaffer created a new record by hitting his 32nd century in Ranji Trophy but Mumbai kept losing regular wickets to reach 287 for six, a lead of 139 runs at stumps on the second day of the Ranji Trophy final.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's march towards a two-third majority was halted by the presence of Keshubhai Patel's party in Saurashtra and the saffron outfit suffered reverses in Chief Minister Narendra Modi's own backyard of north Gujarat.
The left-arm paceman, who has played two T20Is and one ODI for India, announced his engagement to Saurashtra women's cricketer Meghna Jambucha.
A captain's innings by Harshad Khadiwale and useful contributions with the bat from Kedar Jadav, Ankit Bawne and Azhar Ansari guided Maharashtra to a six-wicket victory over defending champions Saurashtra in the West Zone Ranji Trophy one-day tournament in Rajkot on Monday. Chasing a target of 215, Maharashtra put up 217 runs in 42.1 overs.
Ravindra Jadeja finished with a match-haul of eight wickets as Saurashtra thrashed Bengal by 270 runs in a Ranji Trophy group league encounter in Rajkot and kept their chance of qualifying for the knock-out stage alive.
The administration is geared up for more showers as the India meteorological department has warned of heavy to very heavy rains with isolated extremely heavy rains in several districts of the state till Thursday morning.
Ravindra Jadeja snapped six wickets in a brilliant bowling performance as Saurashtra shot out Hyderabad for 186 to take a crucial 74-run first-innings lead on the second day of their Ranji Trophy match.
Roundup of Ranji Trophy matched played on Sunday
Mumbai will play Tamil Nadu at home while Vidarbha will host Madhya Pradesh in Nagpur in the Ranji Trophy semifinals, starting from Saturday.
In the eye of storm for returning home after being excluded from playing XI against Orissa, veteran pacer Ajit Agarkar has made himself unavailable for Mumbai's next encounter against Saurashtra at Rajkot starting from December 6.
England Cricket Board (ECB) on Wednesday named the playing eleven for the third Test match against India in Rajkot, with pacer Mark Wood replacing Shoaib Bashir in the playing squad.
A round-up of the Ranji Trophy matches played on Friday.
Mohit Avasthi ran through the Bengal batting lineup, grabbing seven wickets for 52 runs as Mumbai stormed to an innings and four-run win with a bonus point in their Ranji Trophy Group B match in Kolkata on Sunday.
Ravindra Jadeja's recovery from the hamstring injury seems to be on the right track.
Karnataka pacer Abhimanyu Mithun picked a five-wicket haul in their Group B match against UP. While Delhi's Ricky Bhui put his team in a good position against Andhra. A round-up of Day 2 of the Ranji Trophy matches played on Wednesday.
Punjab, starting the penultimate day on 73/3 and needing 144 more runs, crumbled under pressure from Sindhu's relentless spin and Jayant Yadav's precise off-spin (3/35 in 10.4 overs), collapsing well before lunch and handing Haryana their second outright win in four matches.
Saurashtra seamers Jaydev Unadkat, Shaurya Sanandia and Chirag Jani shared seven wickets among them to bundle out Haryana for 140 in their second innings and lift their team to an innings and 31-run victory on the third day of their Group B Ranji Trophy match, on Sunday.
Vidarbha opener Atharva Taide struck his third first-class century and his second of the ongoing Ranji Trophy season
Courtesy Jadeja's knock, Saurashtra lead Railways by 144 runs after they ended the Day 2 at 344/8.
Not far behind is Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA), who requested for funds to organise fourth India vs Australia Test, starting March 25, despite having Rs 65 crore plus in the association's bank account.
A fine all-round performance by Sairaj Bahutule gave Mumbai a 136-run victory in the Ranji Trophy one-day match.
Skipper Jaydev Shah led an impressive display by Saurashtra's batsmen, scoring a fluent 87 before Sheldon Jackson posted an unbeaten half-century, to propel the hosts to 274 for 5 on the first day of the Ranji Trophy semi-final against Punjab, in Rajkot, on Wednesday.
Mayank Agarwal played a captain's knock of 109, as his side took a 64-run lead on Day 2
A round-up of Ranji Trophy matches played across India on Saturday.
Cheteshwar Pujara caught up with his team-mates.
Buoyed by his call-up into the Indian Test side, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja snared four Bengal wickets and then scored an undefeated 67 to put Saurashtra in complete command in a Ranji Trophy group A league encounter in Rajkot on Sunday.
India's premier Test batsman Cheteshwar Pujara will play for Team Zalawad Royals in the inaugural Saurashtra Premier League.
A summary of the second day's play in the Ranji Trophy matches played at various venues across the country.
Out of these nine constituencies in the two districts, seven had been held by the ruling party while the Congress represented Amreli and Una seats.
