A clinical Rajasthan Royals shot out Royal Challengers Bangalore for a paltry 70, the third lowest total in the Indian Premier League history, and then romped to a six-wicket victory in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.
The second day of the Ranji Trophy match between Mumbai and Railways had the visiting team players, led by their skipper Suryakumar Yadav, doing the duty of groundsmen as the cricketers tried to clear the waterlogged areas of the Karnail Singh Stadium in New Delhi.
'As a middle-order batsman, a lot of times you have to trust your ability to play those big shots under pressure. It is also important to trust your partner at that time. I did not come off on that occasion but those things happen in the game of cricket.'
The out-of-favour opening pair of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir were handed a lifeline by the national selectors on Tuesday when they were included in the India 'A' squad for the second and third four-day matches against the touring West Indies 'A' later this month.
Mumbai rode on Abhishek Nayar's scintillating 47-ball 76 to record a comfortable five-wicket win over Saurashtra in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Twenty20 tournament for west zone, in Vadodara, on Wednesday.
Virender Sehwag's decision to continue batting at No 3 didn't make much of a difference to his poor form but defending champions Delhi did enough to beat Jammu and Kashmir by 38 runs in the opening fixture of the north zone leg of the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
The right-arm medium pacer caused Maharashtra's batsmen a lot of problems with his extra bounce on a green Wankhede wicket, taking four wickets for 62 runs as Maharashtra struggled to 219 for 7 in 57 overs in their first innings, at stumps on the second day, in reply to Mumbai's 402 all out.
Mumbai held a slight edge reducing Madhya Pradesh to 197 for five in their Ranji Trophy cricket semi-final after being bowled out for 371 in their first innings, in Cuttack, on Sunday.
Karthik is finally enjoying his time under spotlight, something he has so richly deserved
Cheteshwar Pujara surpassed Vijay Merchant's record for the most double hundreds by an Indian in first-class cricket -- a record that stood for almost 70 years. A roundup of Day 2 of the Ranji Trophy matches on Thursday.
Manprit Juneja narrowly missed out on a well-deserved double hundred for India 'A' while the New Zealand 'A' top-order got some much needed batting practice as the second unofficial 'Test' between the two sides finished in a dull draw, in Visakhapatnam, on Thursday.
Paceman Bhuvaneshwar Kumar followed up his team's superb collective batting effort with a four-wicket haul as India Blue lifted the NKP Salve Challenger Series Trophy with a convincing 50-run victory over Delhi in the final.
Virender Sehwag scored a fluent fifty, but it was not enough to prevent formidable Delhi from going down to India Blue by 18 runs in the opening game of NKP Salve Challenger Series in Indore on Thursday.
Defending champions Karnataka need just four wickets to book their second consecutive berth in the final of the Ranji Trophy as Mumbai are struggling at 277 for six in their second innings at stumps on the third day in Bengaluru.
Sachin Tendulkar, who got off the mark with a boundary with his trademark straight drive, dragged an incoming delivery from pacer Mohit Sharma back on to his stumps and was bowled for five on Day 1 of the Ranji Trophy match against Haryana.
Opener Kraigg Brathwaite continued his good run with another splendid century while Narasingh Deonaraine cracked a flamboyant 93 as the second unofficial Test between India 'A' and West Indies 'A' ended in a tame draw in Shimoga
Left-arm spinner Vijay Gohil registered his best first-class bowling figures to put defending champions Mumbai in firm control against Hyderabad in the quarterfinal of the Ranji Trophy cricket tournament in Raipur on Monday. Gohil picked up five wickets giving away just 28 runs from his 10 overs to reduce Hyderabad to 121 for seven while chasing 232 runs for an outright win at stumps on the fourth and penultimate day of the match. Besides Gohil, Abhishek Nayar (2/27) picked up two wickets for the 41-time winners.
A round-up of the Ranji matches played on Friday
The domestic season-ending five-day Irani Cup game between newly crowned Ranji Trophy champions Mumbai and the Rest of India, commencing in Mumbai from Sunday, will provide fringe players a good opportunity to stake claims for the national team. The first class match is the last occasion for hopefuls from both ranks to impress the five-member national selection panel headed by Sandeep Patil before attention shifts totally to the T20 format, commencing with the ICC World T20 Championships. With the country expected to play over 15 Test matches post Indian Premier League till the end of next season, this match is the ideal platform for these players to strengthen their claims for the long Test haul. Mumbai, who clinched the Ranji crown for the 41st time last week by defeating Saurashtra by an innings, have a settled combination led by wicket keeper batsman Aditya Tare. They appear to be better prepared than the motley bunch of Rest of India, being led by Madhya Pradesh stumper Naman Ojha. However, they would take the Rest of India lightly at their own peril as the latter have a good bowling attack at their command even without originally named Barinder Sran and Nathu Singh who have been injured and replaced by Ankit Rajpoot and Anureet Singh, according to their coach Ashish Kapoor.
Rajasthan and Bangalore are locked 7-7 on the head-to-head count, but Wednesday's IPL Eliminator in Pune battle carries the weight of a title dream for both sides.
Humiliated in their previous face-off this season, table toppers Rajasthan Royals will be desperate to seek revenge against a resurgent Royal Challengers Bangalore in Wednesday's Indian Premier League match in Bengaluru.
Buoyed by their thrilling last-ball win against Delhi Daredevils, a confident Rajasthan Royals will take on a beleaguered Mumbai Indians in an Indian Premier League cricket encounter in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.
Rajasthan Royals would be keen to adapt quickly to their new 'home ground' when they lock horns with last season's runner-up Kings XI Punjab in their campaign opener in the Indian Premier League in Pune.
After an impressive comeback on India's tour of South Africa, pacer Zaheer Khan is hoping to inspire Mumbai in the crucial Ranji Trophy quarter-final against Maharashtra, starting Wednesday.
A round-up of Ranji matches played on Sunday
India's limited-overs captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, along with his teammates Ravindra Jadeja, Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina and Ravichandran Ashwin, among others, will be up for grabs for the two new IPL teams in the draft to be held in Mumbai.
A patient half-century by Ajinkya Rahane and some disciplined bowling display helped Rajasthan Royal notch up a comfortable four-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in their IPL match in Abu Dhabi.
Surya Kumar Yadav scored his first century in two years, while Vinit Indulkar hit a half-century in his comeback match, to rally Mumbai after a shaky start against Maharashtra, in the Ranji Trophy quarter-final in Mumbai, on Wednesday. Yadav played a sparkling innings of 120, which included 18 fours in 139 deliveries, while Indulkar's was a patient 82, as Mumbai finished the opening day on 306 for 7 in 84 overs.
Ishank Jaggi scored an unbeaten century while Ishan Kishan made 83 to hand Jharkhand the crucial first innings lead over Haryana in a Ranji Trophy match.
Young opener Prithvi Shaw underlined his class with a century against a quality Tamil Nadu attack to lead Mumbai to 314 for seven on the opening day of the Ranji Trophy Group C match in Mumbai.
Left-arm spinner Bhargav Bhatt took three wickets for India 'A' but opener Kraigg Brathwaite's patient half-century helped West Indies 'A' reach 283 for six in 90 overs after opting to bat on day one of the second unofficial four-day 'Test' in Shimoga.
Mumbai Ranji Trophy coach Pravin Amre tells Harish Kotian how Suresh Raina prepared for the ODI series in England.
Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders take on Rajasthan Royals at the Brabourne stadium, in Mumbai, on Saturday, in a perform-or-perish contest, as the race for play-off berths in IPL 8 hots up.
'People didn't associate Dinesh with hitting sixes. He had the ability to hit fours and the odd six, but hitting sixes (regularly) is one aspect of the game we have really worked hard on.'
Since joining Rajasthan Royals, Watson is the team's best all-rounder, notching 1,785 runs in 55 matches, scoring one century and 11 half-centuries at a strike rate of 145.59. In bowling, he claimed 48 wickets with best figures of 3-10.
Round up of the Ranji Trophy matches being played across the country
India's batting ace Yuvraj Singh commanded the highest price, Royal Challengers Bangalore paying a massive 14 crore for him, while Dinesh Karthik was a surprise pick at 12.5 crore by Delhi Daredevils.
A round-up of Ranji matches played on Friday
So far among the Indian batsmen, only one player had more first-class hundreds before the age of 18 -- batting legend Sachin Tendulkar who had seven three figure scores.
Karnataka captain R Vinay Kumar led from the front with a six-wicket haul to send Mumbai crashing for a lowly 44 in their first innings on day one of the Ranji Trophy semi-finals. With a lead of 158 runs, Karnataka were at the receiving end in their second essay, ending the day on 10 for 2 from five overs.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances