East Zone bowlers led by the seasoned Laxmi Ratan Shukla rattled South Zone in the final hour reducing them to 236 for nine despite Robin Uthappa scoring a well-crafted hundred on the first day of the Duleep Trophy semi-final in Lahli on Wednesday.
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.
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' dominated as their bowlers' disciplined performance reduced West Indies 'A' to 212 for eight on the opening day of their four-day unofficial second Test in Kingstown.
The team comprises of a lot of promising youngsters who have performed in the Ranji Trophy this season including top-scorer Priyank Panchal of Gujarat and Services batsman G Rahul Singh.
Buoyed by his India call-up, speedster Ashok Dinda continued his superb form in the domestic circuit as his five-wicket haul helped Bengal beat Madhyra Pradesh by 15 runs in the quarter-final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy being played at the Palam ground.
Skipper Manoj Tiwary and lower-order batsman Pankaj Shaw cracked individual hundreds but could not save Bengal from suffering a huge 355-run defeat against Madhya Pradesh in the five-day Ranji Trophy quarter-final at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium on Sunday. Starting the final day on 113 for 3 and chasing an improbable victory target of 788, Bengal were kept in the fight till the extended tea session by Tiwary (124), Shaw (118) and Ashok Dinda (52) before they folded up for 432. Lanky pacer Ishwar Pandey once again led the bowling honours for MP with a haul of 4 for 93 to add to his first innings tally of 4 for 45, while debutant pacer Chandrakant Sakure finished with a match haul of six wickets that included his second innings 3 for 114. MP, who thus recorded their second outright win over Bengal in nine outings in the tournament, now take on 40-time champions Mumbai in the five-day semi finals commencing at Cuttack on February 13.
On a day dominated by pace bowlers from both sides, Madhya Pradesh held the upper hand over Bengal by taking a handsome first innings lead of 227 runs after skittling out the latter for a paltry 121 in their Ranji Trophy quarter-final, at the Brabourne Stadium, on Thursday.
Had Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) played under the leadership of former India skipper Sourav Ganguly in the Indian Premier League (IPL), they might have avoided the tag of tournament-laggards, feels teams young pacer Ashok Dinda. Under New Zealand's Brendon McCullum the Kolkata side had a disastrous campaign as they earned the dubious distinction of losing eight matches on the trot.
India's fastest bowler Varun Aaron has started his 10-day training programme under Australian legend Glenn McGrath at the MRF Pace Foundation as part of a tie-up between the BCCI and company.
Delhi spinners Manan Sharma and Vikas Mishra took an hour to grab the remaining four wickets as the Ishant Sharma-led team beat Railways by an innings and 105 runs in their second Group A league match of the Ranji Trophy, on Tuesday.
Steve Smith and David Warner could be in line for an immediate return to the Australian team when their bans expire midway through the upcoming one-day international (ODI) series against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates.
Railways captain Murali Kartik took the attack back to the opposition camp with a timely half-century as the visitors need another 154 runs with seven wickets in hand as their Ranji Trophy quarter-final against hosts Bengal hangs in balance at the end of the fourth day.
Middle-order batsman Sangram Atitkar hammered a listless Bengal attack into submission with a brilliant 168 as Maharashtra took a mammoth first innings lead to set sights on an innings victory by stumps on the second day of Ranji Trophy semi-final in Indore.
Check out the Royal Challengers Bangalore squad for the eighth edition of the Indian Premier League.
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.
All-rounder Stuart Binny stamped his class by hitting a sparkling unbeaten century as Karnataka took firm grip of the Irani Trophy match against Rest of India (ROI) with a 189-run first innings lead in Bangalore on Monday.
Short of match practice, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Ashish Nehra and Ajinkya Rahane will captain the India A team for two warm-up matches against England at CCI, Mumbai next week. Dhoni, who has not played a competitive game in over two months, will lead the India A side in the opening warm-up here on January 10. Rahane, who is coming back from an injury, will captain the team in the second warm-up on January 12.
Ashok Dinda's six-wicket haul and Rohan Gavaskar's fine half-century gave East Zone a healthy lead over Central Zone in their four-day Duleep Trophy match.
A round-up of Ranji matches played on Sunday
A five-wicket haul by Dinda guided Bengal to victory in the Ranji Trophy match.
Images from the IPL match between Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Delhi medium pacer Navdeep Saini, who picked up the wicket of Australian swashbuckler David Warner early in the warm-up game for India 'A', said it was a special feeling to get the feisty opener out with a bouncer.
Ranji Trophy: Birla scion Aryaman hits maiden first-class ton, MP salvage draw against Bengal
Siddesh Lad's strokeful 117 and the bowlers' superb showing put Mumbai in the driver's seat against Odisha at the end of the third day in a Ranji Trophy Group C match with the hosts struggling at 93 for four in pursuit of 413 for victory.
Young batsman Shreyas Iyer pounded the Australian bowlers with his career-best unbeaten 202 before the three-day warm-up game between India A and the visitors ended in a draw, in Mumbai, on Sunday.
Adhikari joined the BJP amid Shah's two-day visit to West Bengal ahead of the assembly elections in 2021.
Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) have acquired the services of Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) pacer Shardul Thakur for the 10th edition of the Indian Premier League.
A round-up of all the Ranji Trophy matches played on Monday
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.
India recorded their first-ever win in a Twenty20 International at the Wankhede Stadium when they edged out Sri Lanka by five wickets to complete a clean sweep of the three-match series, in Mumbai, on Sunday.
Images from the IPL match between Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders in Raipur on Sunday.
The best and worst of the tournament, thus far.
Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag were among those who slogged it out in the nets for batting practice while off-spinner Harbhajan Singh had a lengthy bowling drill as the Indian team went for two grinding training sessions for the second successive day in Bangalore on Sunday.
The Indian team on Saturday began their three-day training camp ahead of their Test series against Australia starting next week with a three hour-long practice session in Bangalore, with senior batsman Sachin Tendulkar returning in the mix after his retirement from ODI cricket.
A spirited Bengal downed bitter foes Railways by 48 runs in their controversy-filled match at the Eden Gardens on Sunday to set up a Ranji Trophy semifinal clash against Maharashtra.
David Miller and Mandeep Singh's unbeaten half centuries helped Kings XI Punjab pull off a thrilling seven-wicket win over Pune Warriors in Indian Premier League match in Mohali on Sunday.
Ajinkya Rahane steered Rising Pune Supergiants home with an unbeaten half-century as the visitors outclassed Delhi Daredevils by seven wickets to keep their hopes alive, in the Indian Premier League in Delhi, on Thursday.
Statistical highlights of the Pepsi IPL match between Mumbai Indians and Pune Warriors in Mumbai on Saturday.
India, down 0-2 in the series, made two changes to the squad, dropping out-of-form opener Virender Sehwag and pacer Ashok Dinda for Ajinkya Rahane and Shami Ahmed respectively.
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