They may be playing in their first Ranji Trophy final in 75 years, and against a team that has 39 titles in its kitty, but Saurashtra aren't getting intimidated by their opponents' credentials. Instead, they are plotting to upset Mumbai's applecart in its own backyard, the Wankhede stadium.
They were reduced to 127 for 5, chasing a victory target of 274 on the third day of their Ranji Trophy tie.
Left-arm spinner Iresh Saxena's career-best figures of five for 17 helped Bengal dismiss hosts Saurashtra for a meagre 209 in a Ranji Trophy Group A match in Rajkot.
Sitanshu Kotak stood tall amid ruins and struck a fighting hundred to steer Saurashtra to a vital first innings lead on the second day of their Ranji Trophy Elite Division tie against Maharashtra.
Suryakumar Yadav and Aditya Tare hit unbeaten half-centuries to put Mumbai in a commanding position against Madhya Pradesh on day three of the Ranji Trophy semi-final in Cuttack, on Monday.
Replying to Rajasthan's first innings of 201, the hosts were 250 for 6 at stumps on day 2 of the Ranji Trophy Plate final.
Wasim Jaffer created a new record by hitting his 32nd century in Ranji Trophy but Mumbai kept losing regular wickets to reach 287 for six, a lead of 139 runs at stumps on the second day of the Ranji Trophy final.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's march towards a two-third majority was halted by the presence of Keshubhai Patel's party in Saurashtra and the saffron outfit suffered reverses in Chief Minister Narendra Modi's own backyard of north Gujarat.
A captain's innings by Harshad Khadiwale and useful contributions with the bat from Kedar Jadav, Ankit Bawne and Azhar Ansari guided Maharashtra to a six-wicket victory over defending champions Saurashtra in the West Zone Ranji Trophy one-day tournament in Rajkot on Monday. Chasing a target of 215, Maharashtra put up 217 runs in 42.1 overs.
Ravindra Jadeja finished with a match-haul of eight wickets as Saurashtra thrashed Bengal by 270 runs in a Ranji Trophy group league encounter in Rajkot and kept their chance of qualifying for the knock-out stage alive.
Ravindra Jadeja snapped six wickets in a brilliant bowling performance as Saurashtra shot out Hyderabad for 186 to take a crucial 74-run first-innings lead on the second day of their Ranji Trophy match.
After BJP candidate Mukesh Dalal's Surat win, Gujarat will see 25 Lok Sabha seats go to polls on May 7 with 266 candidates in the fray.
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.
In the eye of storm for returning home after being excluded from playing XI against Orissa, veteran pacer Ajit Agarkar has made himself unavailable for Mumbai's next encounter against Saurashtra at Rajkot starting from December 6.
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.
Saurashtra seamers Jaydev Unadkat, Shaurya Sanandia and Chirag Jani shared seven wickets among them to bundle out Haryana for 140 in their second innings and lift their team to an innings and 31-run victory on the third day of their Group B Ranji Trophy match, on Sunday.
Karnataka pacer Abhimanyu Mithun picked a five-wicket haul in their Group B match against UP. While Delhi's Ricky Bhui put his team in a good position against Andhra. A round-up of Day 2 of the Ranji Trophy matches played on Wednesday.
A fine all-round performance by Sairaj Bahutule gave Mumbai a 136-run victory in the Ranji Trophy one-day match.
Courtesy Jadeja's knock, Saurashtra lead Railways by 144 runs after they ended the Day 2 at 344/8.
Several deaths were reported across the country due to rain-related incidents like lightning strikes and drowning.
Not far behind is Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA), who requested for funds to organise fourth India vs Australia Test, starting March 25, despite having Rs 65 crore plus in the association's bank account.
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'.
Skipper Jaydev Shah led an impressive display by Saurashtra's batsmen, scoring a fluent 87 before Sheldon Jackson posted an unbeaten half-century, to propel the hosts to 274 for 5 on the first day of the Ranji Trophy semi-final against Punjab, in Rajkot, on Wednesday.
The IMD said that rainfall over India in August and September would be around 106 percent of the long-period average of 422.8 mm.
A round-up of Ranji Trophy matches played across India on Saturday.
Buoyed by his call-up into the Indian Test side, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja snared four Bengal wickets and then scored an undefeated 67 to put Saurashtra in complete command in a Ranji Trophy group A league encounter in Rajkot on Sunday.
Shivam Dube continued his recent streak of form with a counter-attacking fifty that proved to be the cornerstone of Mumbai's excellent 330 for six against Bengal
India's batting is a major concern with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli struggling for runs ahead of the tour of Australia.
Rajasthan's Mahipal Lomror put the IPL franchises on alert ahead of the mega auction with a sensational triple hundred comprising a staggering 13 sixes and 25 fours in their Ranji Trophy Group B match against Uttarakhand here on Thursday.
A summary of the second day's play in the Ranji Trophy matches played at various venues across the country.
Saurashtra coach Debu Mitra blasted the Railways team management for preparing a track which he feels is not conducive for a first-class match after 18 wickets fell on the first day of the Ranji Trophy tie at the Karnail Singh Stadium in Delhi on Wednesday.
India's premier Test batsman Cheteshwar Pujara will play for Team Zalawad Royals in the inaugural Saurashtra Premier League.
Orissa defeated Saurashtra by 10 wickets to gain five points on the penultimate day of their Ranji Trophy Plate group 'A' match.
Out of these nine constituencies in the two districts, seven had been held by the ruling party while the Congress represented Amreli and Una seats.
The left-arm paceman, who has played two T20Is and one ODI for India, announced his engagement to Saurashtra women's cricketer Meghna Jambucha.
Round-up of the matches across various venues in the Ranji Trophy
Roundup of Ranji Trophy matched played on Sunday
Mumbai will play Tamil Nadu at home while Vidarbha will host Madhya Pradesh in Nagpur in the Ranji Trophy semifinals, starting from Saturday.
England Cricket Board (ECB) on Wednesday named the playing eleven for the third Test match against India in Rajkot, with pacer Mark Wood replacing Shoaib Bashir in the playing squad.
