Washington Sundar smashed a fifty and scalped two key batsmen to put India Red in the driver's seat against India Blue on the second day of the Duleep Trophy final, in Lucknow, on Tuesday.
It was purely a 'Batsman's Evening' with Tamil Nadu opener Abhinav Mukund and talented Bengal boy Sudeep Chatterjee's twin tons took India Red to a commanding 354-run lead against India Green on the second day of the Duleep Trophy on Wednesday in Greater Noida. After the bowlers ruled the roost with 17 wickets on the first day, it was the turn of southpaws Abhinav (162 batting, 212 balls) and Sudeep (114, 182 balls) to conjure up a 240-run partnership for the second wicket.
Gujarat opener Priyank Panchal started off his new season with a patient 105 in India's Red's none too impressive 232 for 5 as Murali Vijay and Karun Nair surprised one and all sharing bulk of the spoils for India Green on the opening day of the Duleep Trophy.
The BCCI is mulling November 19 as the tentative date for start of domestic season with Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament but Indian players in various IPL teams won't be able to play first few rounds due to quarantine protocols in place.
The Ajinkya Rahane-led West Zone were 268 for five when the match ended
Is this a subtle hint at a change of guard at Rajasthan Royals?
Yuvraj Singh feels it moved a bit more than SG Test ball while Robin Uthappa's observations varied from colour change to lack of reverse swing as the first set of inputs on the much talked about 'Pink ball' Day-Night experiment in the Duleep Trophy came to the fore.
The BCCI's 2015-16 domestic calendar, which, in a media statement, boasts that it will host 900 matches in the span of six months, starting October 1, has discarded the inter-zonal competition which was started in 1961-62. The tournament was conducted to perpetuate the memory of K S Duleepsinhji, nephew of K S Ranjitsinhji in whose memory the national cricket championship is played.
This year, Rajat led RCB to their maiden IPL title in 18 years and recently was crucial to the Central Zone's Duleep Trophy triumph for the first time since 2014-15.
In-form chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav led India Red's fightback with a four-wicket burst to reduce India Blue to 200 for five on another rain-hit day in the Duleep Trophy in Greater Noida on Tuesday. Gautam Gambhir (77) and Mayank Agarwal (92) missed out on centuries before Yadav's sublime spell brought the match alive after a chunk of second day's play was lost due to rain, much like the opening day at the Greater Noida Sports Complex Ground. After 34.2 overs on day one, 27.4 overs were possible in the match played with pink ball and under lights.
Central Zone spinners, led by captain Piyush Chawla, weaved magic on a helpful track to steer the team to the Duleep Trophy title with a thrilling nine-run triumph over South Zone in New Delhi on Sunday.
Bengal speedsters Ashok Dinda and Mohammed Shami Ahmed bowled at a brisk pace to shot Central Zone out for a paltry 133, on the first day of the Duleep Trophy final at the Holkar Stadium, in Indore on Sunday.
Speedster Parvinder Awana grabbed six for 84 to help North Zone come right back into the match at stumps, on the second day of their Duleep Trophy quarter-final against East Zone.
The West Zone squad was selected by the selection committee chaired by Mumbai's Sanjay Patil, Baroda's Prayan Dave, Maharashtra's Akshay Darekar, Sandip Maniyar from Saurashtra Cricket Association and Kirat Damani from the Gujarat Cricket Association.
After a dominant batting display, India Blue dished out a lethal bowling effort to bundle out India Green for just 237 runs and virtually secure its place in the final of the four-day Duleep Trophy cricket tournament, in Greater Noida on Tuesday. In reply to India Blue's mammoth first innings total of 707, India Green's fightback lasted for just 61 overs.
Mahesh Rawat scored a century and combined well with lower-order batsmen to pile on the misery of the North Zone bowlers as Central Zone's Duleep Trophy semifinal ended in a draw in Mohali on Saturday.
'Players who are playing First-Class cricket throughout the year, they would have had 14 First-Class games potentially with India A games, the Irani Trophy, the Duleep Trophy or even more. So a bit of break in between, switching in the formats is always good.'
Easwaran has been a domestic cricket stalwart for Bengal, with 107 first-class games, 8,070 runs at an average of 48.32 with the help of 27 centuries and 33 fifties.
Former India batsman Mohammed Kaif played the anchor role with an unbeaten 108 as Central Zone recovered from a difficult position to end the opening day at 292 for eight in their Duleep Trophy semi-final against defending champions South Zone on Saturday.
Decision on IPL matches at Chinnaswamy stadium after discussing it in Cabinet meet: Karnataka DyCM Shivakumar
Gaikwad constructed a handy partnership 90 for the second wicket with Aarya Desai as West gradually entered a stabilised phase.
India Blue reached the Duleep Trophy final on the basis of a massive first innings lead, completing a comprehensive performance against India Green even as the game ended in a draw in Greater Noida on Wednesday. There was only one team going into the final against India Red after India Blue took a huge 470-run first innings lead yesterday by dismissing the Green team for 237. India Blue had amassed 707
The opening day of the Duleep Trophy final between Noth Zone and South Zone in Kochi on Thursday was called off without a ball being bowled due to a wet outfield, caused by overnight rain.
South leads by a mere 64 runs, and Central should be able to surmount the target without much fuss on the fifth day on Monday.
Rinku smashed a career-best 176 runs from 247 balls, his 100 coming off 157 balls against Tamil Nadu on Wednesday.
The spin duo of Krishnappa Gowtham and Karn Sharma shared nine wickets between them as India Red skittled out India Green for 157 on the second day of the Duleep Trophy match in Lucknow.
Off-spinner Parveez Rasool picked up his 9th five-wicket haul in first-class cricket as India Green dismissed the Blue team for a paltry 177 before finishing the day at 100 for 3 in the final round robin league encounter of the Duleep Trophy.
Former champions South Zone have virtually qualified for semi-finals after reducing West Zone to 156 for 6 in on the penultimate day of their four-day Duleep Trophy match in Chennai on Saturday.
Ayush Badoni's double hundred dots North Zone's Duleep Trophy semifinal entry
The result means that India Blue and India Red will meet in the final.
Venkatesh Prasad described the meeting with the two leaders as "extremely positive", saying the aim is to bring back international cricket and IPL to the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India on Thursday announced five new Test venues as Rajkot, Vizag, Pune, Dharamsala, Ranchi and Indore were named as hosts for the first time, for the forthcoming season where India will be playing thirteen Test matches, eight One-Day Internationals, and three T20 Internationals.
Test skipper Shubman Gill was on Thursday named captain of the North Zone squad for the upcoming Duleep Trophy, beginning August 28, less than three weeks after he led a young Indian side to a thrilling 2-2 draw against England in a gruelling five-Test series.
Meghalaya's Akash Choudhary hits record eight consecutive sixes to make 11-ball fifty in Ranji
Abhimanyu Easwaran, who made a brilliant 153 for India Red, was named player of the match.
India's opening batter Yashasvi Jaiswal is set to feature for Mumbai's Elite Group D fixture against Rajasthan in Jaipur in the third round of the 2025-26 Ranji Trophy, scheduled to commence on November 1.
Seniors Rohit Sharma,Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravichandran Ashwin received exemptions for the Duleep Trophy, starting in Bengaluru on September 5.
Asked about it at a media interaction in Dubai, Chief Selector Ajit Agarkar clarified: 'He is injured.'
A tweaked format which will see the promotion and relegation of one team from the plate group instead of the current two sides from next season's Ranji Trophy.
The final will be played in Coimbatore from September 21, and it will be a five-day affair
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