Railways' experienced campaigner Mahesh Rawat proved to be the thorn in the flesh for Bengal as he stood tall with an unbeaten century to lead the visiting team's recovery on day two of the Ranji Trophy quarter-final in Kolkata on Thursday.
Chennai Super Kings thrashed Kings XI Punjab by a huge margin of 97 runs, extracting a sweet revenge for a string of three losses to them in the last season of the Indian Premier League.
Rajasthan suffered the ignominy of being bowled out for a paltry 35 against Railways in a Central Zone leg match of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, in Nagpur, on Tuesday. Railways needed just 5.3 overs, losing a solitary wicket, to hit up the required runs.
Their pride bruised following disastrous campaigns, Kings XI Punjab and Rising Pune Supergiants will look for a graceful exit from the ninth edition of the IPL when they square off against each other for one last time in Visakhapatnam on Saturday. Supergiants are coming into the contest after a victory over Delhi Daredevils at the same venue, their home ground, while Punjab have lost their last two outings -- against RCB and table-toppers Sunrisers Hyderabad. Punjab's fourth and last win this season had come at this very ground, when they had got the better of Mumbai Indians.
Chennai Super Kings stormed into their second Champions League T20 final with a crushing 65-run victory over Kings XI Punjab in Hyderabad on Thursday.
Rising Pune Supergiant look to build on gains against Kings XI Punjab.
Shaun Marsh's sensational strokeplay helped Kings XI Punjab edge past Rajasthan Royals via the Super Over after the match had finished in a tie in the Indian Premier League, in Ahmedabad, on Tuesday.
Mumbai, who scored 488 in the first innings, riding on captain Aditya Tare's 154, enforced the follow-on and the match was called off with Tamil Nadu 48 for one in 22 overs at the tea break.
A struggling Kings XI Punjab will have to pull out all stops against in-form and unbeaten, Rajasthan Royals, when the two teams clash in an Indian Premier League match in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.
Domestic giants Mumbai crashed out of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy after suffering their third straight defeat
With an aim to stay relevant till the business end, a desperate Kings XI Punjab will be aiming a comprehensive victory against a down and out Royal Challengers Bangalore in an Indian Premier League, in Bengaluru, on Friday.
Mumbai Indians defeated Kings XI Punjab by 23 runs in the Indian Premier League match in Mohali.
On a roll with four consecutive victories, two-time champions Mumbai Indians would look to continue the winning streak when they take on Kings XI Punjab in an Indian Premier League match, in Indore, on Thursday.
The likes of Virender Sehwag, David Miller and Glenn Maxwell have not managed to live up to expectations for Kings XI Punjab in IPL 8.
Three consecutive defeats have more or less sealed their fate and for things to turn around for the Royals, every aspect of their game needs to improve and click for them.
'I am extremely honoured and excited to lead Kings XI Punjab this season. I would like to thank the franchisee for having faith in me and entrusting me this opportunity,' said Australia's T20 captain.
RCB began their campaign without skipper and star batsman Virat Kohli as well as another key player A B de Villiers due to injuries and lost their opening match against defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Ravindra Jadeja, who was ignored for the ODI series against New Zealand, made a statement with an unbeaten 150 for Saurashtra on the first day of their Group B match against Jammu and Kashmir in the Ranji Trophy.
Kings XI Punjab will be aiming to continue their late surge against Rising Pune Supergiant in a 'winner takes it all' Indian Premier League encounter, in Pune on Sunday.
Weakened by the departure of Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes, Rajasthan Royals will have their task cut out when they lock horns with a resurgent Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League match in Jaipur on Saturday.
Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings, the two franchises that returned to the IPL after serving bans in the aftermath of the 2013 spot-fixing scandal, will come face to face for the first time in the ongoing edition, keen to regain lost momentum in Pune, on Friday.
South Africa's explosive batsman David Miller, who will lead the Kings XI Punjab in this edition of the IPL, feels that captaincy has not brought any added pressure on him. "Responsibility changes a bit as captain, but I am really looking forward to it," Miller said. "No pressure, to be honest. I see it as an opportunity. We have changed the squad a little bit this year, couple of new additions, but most of the squad stays the same. "I really believe we can win the competition this year. The fact that we haven't won it, doesn't add any more pressure. It's a great opportunity for the guys to step up," he added. The 26-year-old said he is looking forward to the captaincy challenge.
The Royals are aware of the challenges facing them at the Sawai Mansingh Stadum, a few days after Sunrisers Hyderabad got the better of Kings XI Punjab to grab the second position in the standings.
Defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad will start favourites when they take on the struggling-for-survival Kings XI Punjab in an Indian Premier League match, in Mohali, on Thursday.
Their confidence restored after a bumpy start, a transformed Delhi Daredevils will look to stretch Kings XI Punjab to the limit when they face off in the Indian Premier League (IPL), in New Delhi, on Saturday.
Young chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav kept the opposition batsmen on tenterhooks with a maiden five wicket haul as he took India Red on the cusp of an outright victory against the Green team in the inaugural Day/Night Duleep Trophy encounter in Greater Noida on Thursday. Chasing a mammoth victory target of 497, the Green team was tottering at 217/7 at the end of penultimate evening with another 280 runs to win the match. Suresh Raina was at the crease batting on 35.
Leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal claimed the first hat-trick of his career to guide Ranji Trophy champions Karnataka to a convincing innings and 222 runs victory over Rest of India in the final of the Irani Trophy, in Bangalore, on Wednesday.
Their fate hanging in balance, a loss in the penultimate league round match may virtually sound the death knell for one of the two teams.
A keen contest is on the cards as Royal Challengers Bangalore and Rajasthan Royals cross swords in the Indian Premier League (IPL) in Bengaluru, on Sunday.
Rajasthan Royals will need to regroup quickly after a heavy loss when they face Delhi Daredevils in what will be their first IPL home game in five years at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, in Jaipur, on Wednesday.
Rajasthan Royals face a herculean task when they take on mighty Chennai Super Kings in a must-win Indian Premier League (IPL) match, in Jaipur, on Friday.
For the visitors, the game against the Mandeep Singh-led India 'A' side will be more about getting into the match simulation mode before they get going against Mahendra Singh Dhoni's team in the opening T20 International at Dharamsala on October 2.
Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders would look to return to winning ways.
Mumbai Indians seek to maintain momentum against Kings XI Punjab.
Mayank Agarwal hammered a 49-ball 87 as India 'A' beat the touring South Africans in their opening warm-up T20 game by eight wickets, with two balls to spare, at the Air Force ground, in Palam, Delhi, on Tuesday.
A summary of Wednesday play in the Ranji Trophy matches at various venues across the country.
It was an inauspicious start to the inaugural Day/Night Duleep Trophy match with a major floodlight malfunction grabbing more attention than Pink ball making its first class debut in India. A power failure saw two stoppages in play with the second one leading to lights going off completely in a couple of floodlight towers. There was a total 78 minutes of interruption due to power tripping in two towers in two separate phases.
Kings XI Punjab will once again be facing a 'do-or-die' situation during their penultimate round encounter against table toppers Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League, in Mumbai, on Thursday.
Manish Pandey continued his good form in the limited-overs' format, scoring an unbeaten 99 as defending champions Karnataka beat Mumbai by four wickets to enter the semi-finals of the National One-Day Championship, for the Vijay Hazare Trophy, in Vadodara, on Friday.
The likes of Suresh Raina, Brendon McCullum, and Aaron Finch will be aiming to match the likes of Glenn Maxwell, Hashim Amla, and Marcus Stoinis stroke for stroke on what promises to be another belter of a track.