Left-arm spinner Shams Mulani grabbed a match haul of 10 wickets as Mumbai defeated Andhra by 10 wickets to secure a successive bonus-point victory in the Ranji Trophy in Mumbai on Monday.
The odds will be stacked heavily in favour of India when the title contenders, with an eye on securing a knockout berth, meet minnows Papua New Guinea in the ICC U-19 World Cup, in Mount Maunganui, on Tuesday.
Pictures from the IPL 2022 game between Rajasthan Royals vs Delhi Capitals at the DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai
Full list of players released, retained and traded by all ten teams in the IPL.
It has been a dramatic turnaround for the KL Rahul-led side after a string a losses earlier in the tournament.
Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals have failed to live up to expectations in the IPL so far and are placed sixth and seventh respectively on the points table in the eight-team competition.
The dew factor will go out of the window but the searing heat will be an issue when Royal Challengers Bangalore take on a better prepared Rajasthan Royals in the first of the 10 IPL double-headers, in Abu Dhabi, on Saturday.
It will interesting to see how the pitch behaves on Sunday.
Smith was handed a one-year ban along with his then deputy David Warner exactly a year ago for their roles in the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa.
Jos Buttler announced his return to form with belligerent maiden T20 hundred as Rajasthan Royals trounced SunRisers Hyderabad by 55 runs.
Lukman Meriwala's fifer was the cornerstone of Baroda's thumping nine-wicket win over Chhattisgarh
Images from the IPL match between Rajasthan Royals and SunRisers Hyderabad, in Delhi, on Sunday.
Three-time champion Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals would look to build on their first wins and gain momentum when they clash in the Indian Premier League in Mumbai on Monday.
Images from the Indian Premier League match between Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad, in Dubai, on Monday.
It was batters who mostly lead their teams to victories and some into the knock-outs. While Mumbai trailblazer Sarfaraz Khan continues to find the big runs, Baba Indrajith's consistency wasn't enough for Tamil Nadu to make even the top two in Group H.
Images from the IPL 2022 Qualifier 2 Match between Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bangalore from the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, Gujarat on Friday 27th May 2022
Sanju Samson and Shimron Hetmyer slammed blistering half-centuries as Rajasthan Royals outclassed Gujarat Titans by three wickets.
A big win on Saturday will not only will boost Delhi's morale after the 80-run hammering at the hands of CSK but it could also propel the side to the second position in the eight-team standings.
KKR seek to revive their fortunes against a team they had beaten convincingly in the first leg.
Both teams have been more than disappointing thus far in the IPL and need a win to revive their respective campaigns.
Rajasthan's campaign started on a controversial note when Jos Buttler became the first cricketer in the IPL to be 'Mankaded', the practice of running out non-strikers, who back up early, by bowlers on their delivery stride.
Opener Shubham Rohilla struck his fourth first-class hundred to take Services to 279 for 4 against defending champions Saurashtra
SunRisers Hyderabad has the biggest purse while Kolkata Knight Riders has the slimmest purse.
In the other matches, Manipur trounced Nagaland by 10 wickets in the battle of newcomers while Jammu and Kashmir defeated Andhra Pradesh by five wickets.
Summary of all Ranji Trophy matches played on Saturday
Table-toppers Mumbai Indians are on course to make it to the play-offs but the game is crucial for Rajasthan, who are languishing in seventh place. Defeat would mean a step closer to elimination.
The Virat Kohli-led RCB has won five of its eight games on the back of all-round performances but seemingly blundered in the eight-wicket defeat to laggards KXIP on Thursday.
Bolstered by the arrival of Ben Stokes, Rajasthan Royals will hope for a better showing from its misfiring top order as they try to settle scores against second-placed Delhi Capitals in their return leg IPL match, in Dubai, on Wednesday.
Rajasthan Royals, struggling at the penultimate spot on the points table after two wins and four straight defeats, need something special against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Sunday's IPL match in Dubai.
Rajasthan will take inspiration from their two big wins in Sharjah, to turn things around against a dominant Delhi.
Shubman Gill scored a magnificent, unbeaten hundred as India amassed 272 for 9 against Pakistan in the second semi-final of the ICC Under-19 World Cup in Christchurch on Tuesday.
IMAGES from the IPL 2022 game between Rajasthan Royals and Lucknow Super Giants in Mumbai on Sunday.
India would have in mind the loss they endured against Bangladesh that knocked them out of the Asia Cup in Kuala Lumpur last November.
Images from Wednesday's IPL match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals, in Dubai.
'It was all about targeting one or two over but unfortunately every time we wanted to do that we lost a wicket'
IMAGES from the IPL match between Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians in Navi Mumbai on Saturday.
CSK will be brimming with confidence having defeated the Royals earlier in the season
On a roll after back-to-back wins, the vintage Chennai Super Kings would look to extend their winning run when they clash with struggling Kolkata Knight Riders in their next IPL match in Mumbai on Wednesday.
Flavour of the season Rahul Tewatia didn't prove to be third time lucky in what turned out to be an incredible death overs performance by the Delhi Capitals pace attack in their 13-run victory against Rajasthan Royals in the IPL match, in Dubai, on Wednesday.
Time is fast running out for the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings, a team which desperately needs its batting to click when it takes on SunRisers Hyderabad in Dubai on Tuesday in a battle to keep its IPL hopes alive.
