Virender Sehwag's decision to continue batting at No 3 didn't make much of a difference to his poor form but defending champions Delhi did enough to beat Jammu and Kashmir by 38 runs in the opening fixture of the north zone leg of the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
Punjab looked on course for a crushing victory after bundling out Uttar Pradesh for a paltry 95 in their second innings, on the third day of the Ranji Trophy Group A match in Hyderabad, on Monday.
Nothing but a win will keep their play-off hopes alive as defending champions Mumbai Indians take on Gujarat Lions in a do-or-die battle, which will be their final IPL league match in Kanpur on Saturday. With seven wins in 13 matches, Mumbai are currently placed fifth, tied on 14 points with Royal Challengers Bangalore (3rd) and Kolkata Knight Riders (4th) -- both having better net run-rate with one match to go. A loss on Saturday will knock them out of the race for play-offs and Mumbai will hope to pull the rug from under the feet of the Lions this time after suffering a defeat during their home leg on April 16.
Manprit Juneja narrowly missed out on a well-deserved double hundred for India 'A' while the New Zealand 'A' top-order got some much needed batting practice as the second unofficial 'Test' between the two sides finished in a dull draw, in Visakhapatnam, on Thursday.
Spinner Akshar Patel did the star turn for India as they fought their way back from a tough situation to set up a title clash with Pakistan after a 46-run victory over United Arab Emirates in the semi-finals of the ACC Under-23 Emerging Teams Cup, in Singapore, on Friday.
Skipper Surya Kumar Yadav contributed with bat and ball as the Indian under-23 team beat Nepal by 84 runs in a Group 'A' match of the Asian Cricket Council Emerging Teams Cup in Singapore on Tuesday.
Mumbai rode on Abhishek Nayar's scintillating 47-ball 76 to record a comfortable five-wicket win over Saurashtra in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Twenty20 tournament for west zone, in Vadodara, on Wednesday.
A round-up of the opening day's actions of the Ranji Trophy matches being played in different parts of the country.
Virender Sehwag's wretched run in domestic cricket continued as the veteran opener failed to open his account but Delhi did manage to comfortably beat Punjab by four wickets to notch up their maiden win in the North Zone leg of the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
Rohit Sharma showed no signs of the finger injury that kept him out of action for more than two months as he hammered the visiting Sri Lanka bowlers making 142 off 111 balls, said India A coach Sanjay Bangar after his team won the warm-up game.
Left-arm spinner Axar Patel on Saturday wreaked havoc recording a career-best List A figures of six for 43 as Gujarat beat Tamil Nadu by 31 runs to set up a title clash with Gautam Gambhir-led Delhi in the final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy One-Day tournament.
A summary of Friday's Super League matches in the Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament.
All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja on Monday made a comeback to the Indian team for the first two Tests against South Africa, replacing veteran Harbhajan Singh, who was the only casualty from the team which won the Test series in Sri Lanka last month.
Paceman Bhuvaneshwar Kumar followed up his team's superb collective batting effort with a four-wicket haul as India Blue lifted the NKP Salve Challenger Series Trophy with a convincing 50-run victory over Delhi in the final.
Captain Usman Khawaja and his opening partner, Joe Burns, smashed scintillating centuries as Australia 'A' thrashed a hapless India 'A' by 119 runs in the second tri-series match in Chennai on Friday.
Delhi Daredevils defeated Mumbai Indians by 37 runs in their Indian Premier League match at the Ferozshah Kotla. It was Delhi's first home win in 10 matches and in more than two years. After April 21, 2013, when they last won at the Kotla, Delhi lost nine matches on the trot at home.
Mumbai Indians head coach Ricky Ponting believes his team must start with a fresh mindset and ignore the tag of 'reigning champions' ahead of the first game of the Indian Premier League 2016. Mumbai play the IPL 9 opener against state-rivals Rising Pune Giants at the Wankhede Stadium on April 9. "It doesn't really matter what happened last year now, it's about us putting together a competitive team and making sure were ready to go for the first game," Ponting told cricket.com.au from the Mumbai Indians training camp. "We thought they were ready to go for the first game last year but it took a little while for us to click into gear." Last year Mumbai only managed one win from the first six games before dramatically turning around their fortunes to clinch the title. But this time around Ponting is keen for the team to get off to a better start, and well aware that aim will be made all the more difficult given other teams will be analysing his squad more closely as defending champions.
Manish Pandey's scintillating century and leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal's sterling bowling effort helped Ranji champions Karnataka retain the Irani Trophy after beating Rest of India by a massive 246 runs on the fourth and penultimate day in Bangalore.
Gautam Gambhir was on Saturday handed a suspended four-match ban from first-class cricket for his ugly confrontation with Delhi Ranji coach KP Bhaskar earlier this year, a punishment he said will abide by.
The Indian under-23 team lifted the ACC Emerging Trophy tournament as they thrashed arch-rivals Pakistan by nine wickets in the final with opener Lokesh Rahul (93) being the star of a lop-sided chase.
A summary of the day's matches in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 tournament.
India discards Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag finally got back among the runs as the duo struck fluent half-centuries to help Delhi outclass Haryana by three wickets in the North Zone leg of the Vijay Hazare One Day Tournament, in Dharamsala, on Wednesday.
Senior pros Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir failed with the bat as Jammu and Kashmir powered by their skipper Parvez Rasool shocked Delhi by two wickets in the opening match of the North Zone leg of the National One-Day Championship for the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
The last time he took charge, Ravi Shastri gave the Indian team a new josh after the 2007 World Cup debacle. Can he do so this time as well?
With a fourth crown, India also surpassed Australia in the race of most U-19 World Cup titles. Prior to the final, India and Australia were locked at three titles each.
Kings XI Punjab put the brakes on their summer of discontent as they notched up a convincing seven-wicket win over defending champions Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Mumbai Indians are all set to open the defense of their title against new outfit Rising Pune Supergiants.
Buoyed by their thrilling last-ball win against Delhi Daredevils, a confident Rajasthan Royals will take on a beleaguered Mumbai Indians in an Indian Premier League cricket encounter in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.
A summary of the day's matches in the Vijay Hazare One-day tournament.
Putting up an all-round show, Karnataka defeated Mumbai by 5 wickets in their Elite Group B Ranji Trophy game in Mumbai on Sunday, inside two-and-half days. This was Mumbai's second consecutive loss at home, following their defeat against Railways.
Opener Mayank Agarwal smashed a brilliant 130 in company of skipper Unmukt Chand, who complemented with a useful 90, as India A thrashed South Africa A by eight wickets to bag a bonus point in their second tri-series match in Chennai.
Skipper Manoj Tiwary showed the way as Bengal produced a much improved batting performance in the second innings against Mumbai in a group A encounter in Nagpur. After Ashok Dinda's 22nd five wicket haul in first class cricket enabled Bengal to restrict Mumbai to 229, Bengal scored 198 for 3 in 61 overs.
Pushed to the bottom of the table following their fifth defeat in six outings, former champions Mumbai Indians will look to keep their chances alive when they face a resurgent Sunrisers Hyderabad in a crucial Indian Premier League game at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday.
Manan Sharma returned a five-wicket haul as Delhi pulled off a dramatic 90-run win over Punjab following two stunning batting collapses on the third day of their Ranji Trophy Group B match in Patiala.
The reliable Wasim Jaffer led from the front and scored his 35th Ranji century to guide Mumbai to 242/2 on day one of their Ranji Trophy Group A clash against Odisha at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday.
Delhi missed a golden opportunity to register an outright win as Assam managed to sneak home with a point defending a target of 79 in 14 overs during final hour of play, on Monday.
Gurkeerat Singh's all-round brilliance enabled India 'A' thrash Bangladesh 'A' by 96 runs in the first One-dayer of the three-match series, in Bengaluru, on Wednesday. The talented Punjab youngster first contributed a quickfire 58-ball 65 to ensure a commanding total of 322 for 7 for the hosts and then bowled his off-breaks effectively to return figures of 5 for 29 in 7.3 overs as the visitors were dismissed for 226 in 42.3 overs.
Still licking their wounds after a sound thrashing in the lung opener, India will have to regroup quickly and fortify the chinks in their armoury when they take on a determined West Indies in the second One-Day International in Delhi on Saturday.
Mumbai Indians need to rethink their strategy; Narine boost for Kolkata Knight Riders.
With an eye on the final spot, two-time champions Chennai Super Kings face high-flying Mumbai Indians in their first qualifier in the Indian Premier League at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Tuesday.
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