Mahendra Singh Dhoni enthralled one and all with some breathtaking sixes but a young Bengal side put up a spirited display to beat Jharkhand by 41 runs and enter the Vijay Hazare final in Ranchi, on Saturday.
Check out the statistical highlights of the Cuttack T20I.
Youngsters Sudip Chatterjee and Abhimanyu Easwaran showed maturity beyond years in a brilliant 163-run partnership before another familiar middle-order collapse saw Bengal end Day 1 in the Ranji Trophy quarter-final against Railways on 274 for 8 in Kolkata on Wednesday.
A round-up of all the Ranji Trophy matches played on Monday
Skipper Gautam Gambhir led from the front with two half-centuries in the initial phase and when he failed to contribute, Robin Uthappa and Manish Pandey have stepped up to do the bulk of scoring.
Imran Tahir needed less than 12 deliveries to highlight the folly of his rejection at the Indian Premier League auction in February when the leg-spinner set up Pune's thrilling victory in their IPL opener against Mumbai on Thursday.
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Wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha is hoping to continue his good form in the Indian Premier League with 'priceless inputs' from Kings XI Punjab's chief of cricket operations Virender Sehwag.
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Sunrisers Hyderabad will aim to stop a rampaging Rising Pune Supergiant when both teams meet in the Indian Premier League, on Saturday, in a bid to cement their place in the play-offs.
Their pride bruised following disastrous campaigns, Kings XI Punjab and Rising Pune Supergiants will look for a graceful exit from the ninth edition of the IPL when they square off against each other for one last time in Visakhapatnam on Saturday. Supergiants are coming into the contest after a victory over Delhi Daredevils at the same venue, their home ground, while Punjab have lost their last two outings -- against RCB and table-toppers Sunrisers Hyderabad. Punjab's fourth and last win this season had come at this very ground, when they had got the better of Mumbai Indians.
A summary of Wednesday's play in Ranji Trophy matches across the country.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni's form will remain in focus when the struggling Rising Pune Supergiant square off against defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad in an Indian Premier League encounter, in Pune, on Saturday.
A summary of the second day's play in the Ranji Trophy matches played at various venues across the country.
Skipper Laxmi Ratan Shukla's valiant unbeaten half-century helped Bengal stage a remarkable fight-back against Railways in their controversy-marred Ranji Trophy quarter-final at the Eden Gardens.
India 'A' bowlers were largely ineffective, allowing Steve Smith and senior batsman Shaun Marsh to strike comfortable hundreds as Australia started their Test tour in impressive fashion in the three-day warm-up game in Mumbai on Friday.
Pacer Mukesh Kumar took six wickets to help Bengal beat Karnataka by 174 runs and enter the final of the Ranji Trophy for the first time in 13 years, in Kolkata, on Tuesday. Chasing 352 for victory, Karnataka were bowled out for 177 in their second innings with Mukesh taking 6-61 in 21 overs, while Ishan Porel and Akash Deep took two wickets each.
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.
Royal Challengers Bangalore will look to exploit the home advantage when they take on Sunrisers Hyderabad.
After making impressive debuts in their respective openers, Rising Pune Supergiants and GujaratLions will test each others' strengths when the two new entrants clash in the Indian Premier League (IPL), in Rajkot on Thursday. The two teams feature a lot of faces from the suspended Chennai Super Kings and at least six players, who played in the same side till last year, will now be in opposite camps. Close friends and CSK teammates Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Suresh Raina will now be devising strategies as rival captains. Both have admitted that playing in a jersey other than 'yellow' has been very "emotional" but have promised to give their all for their new teams. The Dhoni-led Pune Supergiants were very convincing and dominant when they handed defending champions Mumbai Indians a nine-wicket drubbing. They did not even require their middle order, packed with Dhoni himself and players such as Steven Smith, to come out with the top-order delivering it for them comfortably.
Bengal's most potent match winner Ashok Dinda rose to the occasion when it mattered the most as his five-wicket burst ensured a 43-run win against Railways in a Ranji Trophy Group A league encounter in Dharamsala on Sunday. Needing 119 runs on the final day with five wickets in hand to reach a victory target of 315, Railways could manage 271 in 93.2 overs largely due to Dinda's 5/67. Bengal are now firmly on course for a knockout berth with 15 points in their kitty with two outright wins and three points by virtue of first innings lead in a drawn match.
Delhi all-rounder Rajat Bhatia is a surprise inclusion in the 30-man shortlist, for the upcoming ICC World Twenty20, to be held in Bangladesh from March 16 to April 6. It includes young Kerala wicketkeeper Sanju Samson, former India Under-19 captain Unmukt Chand, Railways leg-spinner Karan Sharma and Harbhajan Singh.
Opener Mayank Agarwal continued his rich vein of form with a cracking 161 as India Blue batsmen were engaged in a run-feast scoring 336 for 3 against Green on the first day of the virtual "semi-final' clash of the Duleep Trophy, in Greater Noida on Sunday.
Chahal, who has been an automatic choice in the limited overs format has not played any first-class cricket since December 2016 (against Haryana in Ranji Trophy), but the Indian team management and especially skipper Virat Kohli has indicated that he wants the wiry leg-spinner for five-day matches also.
Maharashtra batsman Ankit Bawne scored a gutsy century under pressure as West Zone took a vital 43-run first innings lead against East Zone on the second day of the Duleep Trophy quarter-final in Lahli.
Kings XI Punjab will be aiming to continue their late surge against Rising Pune Supergiant in a 'winner takes it all' Indian Premier League encounter, in Pune on Sunday.
Sunrisers Hyderabad surprised quite a few by opting to release the fast bowling duo of Ishant Sharma and Dale Steyn, while they also let go of England discard Kevin Pietersen.
Royal Challengers BangalorStruggling RCB face inconsistent Supergiant in must-win game will be striving to keep their IPL hopes alive when they meet an equally inconsistent Rising Pune Supergiant in an Indian Premier League encounter, in Pune on Saturday.
Pushed to the bottom of the heap after three successive losses, it will take an extraordinary effort from Royal Challengers Bangalore to overpower table-toppers Rajasthan Royals when the two sides clash in an Indian Premier League match in Ahmedabad on Friday.
Sanju Samson hit the first century in this season's Indian Premier League to help Delhi Daredevils demolish Rising Pune Supergiant by 97 runs in Pune on Tuesday.
A round-up of the Ranji Trophy quarter-final matches played on Saturday.
It will be a battle for survival for struggling Rising Pune Supergiants when they lock horns with formidable title-contenders Sunrisers Hyderabad in Tuesday's Indian Premier League match in Visakhapatnam.
Mumbai registered their first victory of the season, thrashing Odisha by 120 runs in a Ranji Trophy Group 'C' match at KIIT Stadium, in Bhubaneshwar, on Saturday.
India's selectors went on expected lines, leaving out former champions while giving the nod to top performers in domestic circuit in the 30-man probables' list for the 2015 World Cup.
Former champions Mumbai claimed three points against Baroda after their four-day Elite Group A Ranji Trophy game ended in a draw at the Wankhede Stadium.
Madhya Pradesh recovered from the loss of two cheap wickets to a healthy 254 for four at stumps on the first day of their five-day Ranji Trophy quarter final against Bengal at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai, on Wednesday.
Captain Manoj Tiwary led from the front with an unbeaten century as East Zone posted a respectable 278 in their first innings against West Zone on the opening day's play of the four-day Duleep Trophy quarter-final, in Lahli.
Speaking at the media conference that followed the IPL Players' draft, Pune spokesperson Subrato Talukdar said Dhoni. was an automatic choice for the new franchise.
An upbeat Sunrisers Hyderabad will look to carry on their winning momentum to book a berth in the play-offs when they take on an equally-keen Royal Challengers Bangalore in a crucial IPL match at Uppal, in Hyderabad, on Friday.
Playing for Jharkhand, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who was playing his first domestic match in eight years, made just nine before he was dismissed by Jammu and Kashmir's left-arm spinner Waseem Raza.
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