After a commanding batting display, Mumbai put up an impressive bowling performance to wrest control over Saurashtra in their Ranji Trophy Group A match in Rajkot on Monday.
Riding on a splendid bowling performance led by off-spinner Vishal Joshi, Saurashtra on Sunday thrashed Punjab by 229 runs to enter the Ranji Trophy final for the first time in 75 years.
Saurashtra bowlers produced a sterling performance to put them in a commanding position in their Group 'A' Ranji Trophy match against Madhya Pradesh in Rajkot on Sunday.
'She was my only choice to play Sonbai. The moment she read the script, she slipped into character.'
Despite the need for an outright win, Mumbai settled for a draw in their Group A match against Saurashtra when they restricted the hosts to 300 and then decided to bat again instead of imposing follow-on, in Rajkot on Tuesday.
A young but mighty Mumbai have history and form firmly on their side when they chase their 41st Ranji Trophy title by locking horns with Saurashtra, who are taking a rare shot at domestic cricket's biggest prize, in the summit showdown beginning in Pune from Wednesday. While Mumbai will be appearing in their 45th final of the top domestic tournament, it is only the second time that Saurashtra are in the title clash. Incidentally, it was Mumbai who put paid to Saurashtra's hopes of a maiden triumph by wrapping the final in three days in 2012-13. That was the only time Saurashtra came close to the title. Mumbai won that match by an innings and 125 runs for their 40th trophy. Three seasons later, the scene remains more or less the same and it will take a huge effort from Saurashtra to upset a side which has almost won more titles than the rest of India combined. For the record, since 1990-91, Mumbai haven't lost any of the 10 finals they have played. Mumbai have at least five of those who played in the earlier final in the squad -- Aditya Tare, Abhishek Nayar, Dhawal Kulkarni, Shardul Thakur and Vishal Dabholkar.
A round-up of Ranji matches played on Saturday.
Saurashtra whipped hosts Maharashtra by eight wickets with more than a day to spare in their Ranji Trophy tie.
Saurashtra were 232 for 5 in reply to Himachal Pradesh's first innings score of 214 at close on day 2 of the Plate Ranji Trophy match.
A fine bowling performance by RV Dhruv (four for 68)enabled Saurashtra outplay Rajasthan and post a 200-run win in their Ranji Super League match
A scientist working at a government research institute funded by the University Grants Commission shares his experience.
Maharashtra bundled out the hosts for 177 in 62.3 overs on the opening day of their four-day Plate `B' Ranji match in Rajkot
Rising batsman Cheteshwar Pujara cracked a superb unbeaten century to steer Saurashtra into the Ranji Trophy semi-finals with a five-wicket victory over Karnataka on the fourth and final day of the quarter-final tie in Mumbai on Monday. Chasing a stiff target of 325 set by their rivals, Saurashtra romped home by making 327 for five in the last session of play at the Brabourne Stadium.
The weather office has issued a forecast of heavy to very heavy rains at isolated places in several districts of Gujarat over the next one week.
Mumbai appeared to be on course to their 38th Ranji Trophy title as Saurashtra failed to live up to their promise of making a match of their rivals and were trailing by 390 runs in their first innings on the third and penultimate day of their semi-final match in Chennai on Tuesday.
Sitanshu Kotak and Cheteshwar Pujara hit unbeaten half centuries to put Saurashtra on top against holders Mumbai on the first day of the four-day Ranji Trophy Super League Group A tie in Mumbai on Tuesday.
Saurashtra gained three points by virtue of their 110-run first innings lead over hosts Himachal as their four-day Ranji Trophy Super League Group A match ended in a tame draw in Dharamsala on Tuesday.
Mumbai defeated Saurashtra by five wickets in the West Zone Vijay Hazare trophy tie on Sunday, on the back of Sushanth Marathe's 88 coupled with his 114-run partnership for second wicket with Iqbal Abdullah (55).
Juniors Virendra Vegda and Vishal Vasoya will field for Team India in the event of an emergency during the second ODI against Sri Lanka.
They scored 284 for 3 against Delhi on the opening day of the Ranji Trophy match.
It took 84 long years for Test cricket to come to the land of Ranjitsinhji.
Saurashtra clinched their maiden Ranji Trophy Plate division title after beating Rajasthan by an innings and 34 runs in the final.
Backed by three decades of water conservation measures, semi-arid Saurashtra is driving agricultural growth in the state. Will it be able to sustain it?
They beat Madhya Pradesh by virtue of the first innings lead after the five-day semi-final ended in a draw.
Sheldon Jackson's 83 and contributions from Shitanshu Kotak and Arpit Vasavada helped Saurashtra make 272 for five on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy quarter-final match against Karnataka.
Middle-order batsman Manish Pandey's fine century could go in vain, as hosts Saurashtra took the vital first innings lead against Karnataka on the third day of the Ranji Trophy quarter-final in Rajkot, on Tuesday. Saurashtra, dismissed for 469 in the first innings, took a crucial 73-run lead after restricting Karnataka to 396, on the third day of the five-day encounter.
A total of 89 seats -- out of 182 -- spanning the Saurashtra and south Gujarat regions, are up for grabs in the first phase with 977 candidates in the fray, including Chief Minister Vijay Rupani.
Cheteshwar Pujara stroked his way to an unbeaten double century as Saurashtra brightened their chances of making the quarter-finals of the Ranji Trophy after setting Madhya Pradesh an improbable 411-run target for an outright win in their Group A match.
Kamlesh Makvana (batting 54) kept Saurashtra in the hunt for the first innings lead against defending champions Rajasthan on the second day of their Ranji Trophy league match in Jaipur on Sunday.
A summary of the day's play in the Vijay Hazare One-day tournament.
It proved to be a good toss to lose for Saurashtra, who succeeded in removing the most impactful Vidarbha batsmen -- Jaffer (23) and captain Faiz Fazal (16) -- cheaply.
India's biggest oil and gas bid round attracted four bidders that included state-owned ONGC and OIL and private sector Vedanta Ltd, with most blocks getting just two bids, according to Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH). The OALP-IX bid round, where 28 blocks or areas spread over 1.36 lakh square kilometre were offered for finding and producing oil and gas, for the first time saw Reliance Industries Ltd-bp plc combine bidding together with ONGC for one block in Gujarat offshore.
The situation in rain-battered Gujarat improved slightly on Thursday as the rainfall activity subsided, but Vadodara and some other parts of the state are still reeling under a flood-like situation due to overflowing rivers while the authorities continue the rescue and relief operations.
A wrap-up of the second day action of the Ranji Trophy Elite division matches across the country on Wednesday.
Despite being ignored by the Ranji squad, Saurashtra's hard-hitting batsman Kuldeep Raval has shown perseverance and his talent is set to come to the fore for the Delhi Daredevils, writes Haresh Pandya.
Seamers Parvindar Awana and S Narwal shared six wickets between them to help Delhi restrict Saurashtra to 234 for nine on the opening day of their four-day Ranji Trophy Elite Division match in Rajkot on Friday.
Crucial knocks by middle-order batsman Cheteshwar Pujara (75 not out) and Sagar Jogiyani (77) helped Saurashtra register their first win in the Ranji one day league as they defeated Baroda with five wickets and two balls to spare at the SCA stadium in Khandheri.
A round-up of Ranji matches played on Wednesday.
Shreyas Iyer would be aiming to revive his start-stop international career, while Ishan Kishan would aim to clear the popular perception about his allegedly 'misplaced priorities'.
