Saurashtra trounce Punjab inside two days; Gill disappoints

From 45/4, Vidarbha sensationally recovered to post 295 courtesy Yash Rathod’s century. Now, they’re eyeing the first-innings honours with Andhra 223/9.

UP 32/3 in réponse to Jharkhand’s 561/6d. Two centurions there: Sharandeep Singh and Kumar Kushagra.

Winless TN can dream of their first win. Having pocketed the first-innings honours, they’re effectively 164/1 in the second innings. Sonu Yadav, the medium pacer, was TN’s wrecker-in-chief with a five-for.

Nagaland trail by six, have just one wicket in hand. Can they avoid an innings defeat against Baroda?

Group B

Saurashtra have trounced Punjab inside two days; Gill made scores of 0 and 14. Parth Bhuth and Dharmendrasinh Jadeja with five wickets apiece in the second innings as Punjab last just 79 overs across both innings.

Karnataka, group toppers, are on the mat against MP. They’re 168 for 8 in response to MP’s 323. Mayank Agarwal and Devdutt Padikkal bagged ducks, Karun Nair 12. Saransh Jain the best bowler on view with a three-for.

A half-century from Ruturaj Gaikwad and an unbeaten 95 from Saurabh Nawal have helped Maharashtra open up a 97-run lead against Goa with two wickets remaining.

Centuries from Manan Vohra and Arjun Azad helped open up a massive lead for Chandigarh. Kerala are 21/2, needing 257 more to make Chandigarh bat. They’re stating at an innings defeat.

Group C

Akash Deep and Mohammed Shami pick up five wickets between them as Bengal have Services staring at a follow-on in Kalyani. Bengal added 175 to finish with 519.

Gujarat have conceded a 249-run lead to Railways, who were powered by a century from Zubair Ali and 98 from Ravi Singh.

Haryana crawled to 164 for 3 after Assam posted 247, while Uttarakhand sensationally recovered from 128 for 6 to post 299/6, a lead of 33 against Tripura. The recovery was orchestrated by J Suchith (84 not out) and Saurabh Rawat (80 not out)

Group D

Sarfaraz Khan's 227 helped set up Mumbai's 560, but Hyderabad were solid at 138 for 2.

J&K in a dogfight for the lead; they're 150 for 6 after Puducherry made 233

Tons from Ayush Pandey and Agrim Tiwary fuel Chhattisgarh's lead against Delhi

Himachal have Rajasthan on the racks after posting 406.

Getting deliveries like these don't help at the best of times. Not definitely when you're a gun player short thanks to injury.

UP 32/3 in response to Jharkhand's 561/6 declared.

It's taken them less than two days to get the six points they needed to stay in contention for the Ranji knockouts.

Punjab lasted just 79 overs combined in both innings on a Rajkot bunsen.

Five wickets apiece for Parth Bhuth and Dharmendrasinh Jadeja as Punjab are bowled out for 139 in pursuit of 321.

This vaults Saurashtra to 19 points and second in Group B, with one game left. That could change, however, by the time the round finishes.

Group B toppers Karnataka are on the racks at 84 for 5 in response to MP's 323.

Karnataka are currently on 21 points, MP are third with 16 points. This is a tight group. And a loss could hurt the toppers big time.

Punjab are 78 for 3, target of 321 many moons away.

Uttar Pradesh’s left-arm spin all-rounder Shivam Sharma has been included in the UP playing XI as a Serious Injury Replacement for the injured Prashant Veer, who earned the highest bid for an uncapped player (14.2 crore) at the IPL auction.

Veer was injured while fielding just before lunch on the first day of the match and is expected to be out of action for at least three weeks. This is the second time that the Serious Injury Replacement rule, which was introduced earlier this year, has been used in the Ranji Trophy.

Veer is suffering from a Grade-2 shoulder injury.

Earlier, in October 2025, during the Bengal vs Gujarat match played in Kolkata, Bengal batter Kazi Junaid Saifi came into the team as a replacement for injured opener Sudip Chatterjee and batted in the second innings.

At tea on the second day, the visiting Jharkhand team tightened its grip on the match. On the first day, opener Sharandeep Singh scored a century, while on the second day Kumar Kushagra scored 102 runs to take Jharkhand close to the 500-run mark.

Meanwhile, Sharma, who came into the playing XI in place of Veer, has bowled 15 overs so far and has taken the important wicket of centurion Kushagra.

He made a two-ball duck in the first innings, unfortunate to have been adjusted lbw by some accounts. But Gill has a task at hand in the second.

Punjab are chasing 321 and are 48 for 2 in the 11th over. They've come out looking to play their strokes, perhaps a sign that they feel that's the best way to counter Saurashtra's spinners

Gill joins Uday Saharan in the middle.

In case you missed it...

In-form Devdutt Padikkal and Mayank Agarwal are out for 0. Karun Nair is run out for 12. KL Shrijith becomes the latest to join the procession. Karnataka are 39/4 in response to MP's 323.

Bihar have made a mammoth 522 in the first innings against Manipur. Sakibul Gani, the captain, made 108 while Bipin Saurabh contributed 143.

A first-innings lead will be enough for Bihar to earn a promotion into the Elite Division.

A superb lower-order rally from Saurashtra has set Punjab a mammoth 320 for victory in what is a must-win game for both sides in Rajkot.

Ravindra Jadeja contributed a crucial 46, but it was their regular allrounders that made key contributions. Prerak Mankad chipped in with 56, Parth Bhuth made 37 not out. And youngster Hetvik Kotak, son of former Saurashtra captain and current India batting coach Sitanshu Kotak, made a crucial 39.

Harpreet Brar takes his second five-for in the match.

All eyes now on Punjab and Shubman Gill.

MP will be disappointed at managing just 323 in the first innings. From 233 for 3, the slide was rather sharp. Venkatesh Iyer the top scorer with 82.

From there on, MP have struck early courtesy Aryan Pandey.

Karnataka 5/1.

Resuming on 144, Sarfaraz Khan has raced to 227 as Mumbai gallop along to 488 for 5.

Sarfaraz has put on 154 for the sixth wicket with Suved Parkar, who is unbeaten on 65.

Can Sarfaraz get past his previous best first-class highest of 301?

Siraj's captaincy debut for Hyderabad has been far from a dream start. he has wheeled away for 24 overs for the lone wicket of Akash Anand, the Mumbai wicketkeeper.

Jadeja has fought his way through to make 39*, but wickets continue to fall around him.

Saurashtra are 168/6, effectively ahead by 205. You'd think this is already a match-winning lead, but stranger things have happened.

Harpreet Brar has a 10-for in the match. Six in the first, four and counting in the second.

Saurashtra have already scored 50 runs in the first hour of play for the loss of Dharmendrasinh Jadeja.

That has brought Ravindra Jadeja to the middle, as he joins Aarpit Vasavada.

Saurashtra are 75/4, leading by 108.

Harpreet Brar has picked up his third wicket of the innings, and his total wickets tally for the match stands at nine.

Incredible to think this is just his third first-class match.

Big day. And there's every chance we'll have at least one decisive result from Rajkot, where 23 wickets fell on the opening day between Saurashtra and Punjab. The game is on a knife's edge. Saurashtra are effectively 57 for 3 in the second innings on what - let's not be under any illusion - is a rank turner.

All eyes on Ravindra Jadeja - can he swell Saurashtra's lead? Will Shubman Gill make amends for his two-ball duck in the first innings?

We'll find out. Here's last-night's scorecard by the way.

Group A

Yash Rathod's unbeaten century has rescued Vidarbha from 45/4 to 250 for 7 against Andhra in Anantapur.

Jharkhand's top order has run Uttar Pradesh ragged. Sharandeep Singh is unbeaten on 121; Shikhar Mohan made 78 in an opening stand worth 148. Jharkhand have progressed to 269 for 1.

Out of the knockouts race but with pride to play, TN are 281 for 7 at stumps against Odisha. There have been three half-centurions: Pradosh Ranjan Paul (78), Andre Siddarth (56) and Nidish Rajagopal (54*)

Baroda are 129 without loss after skittling Nagaland for 206.

As many as 23 wickets fell on a rank turner at Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot as Saurashtra turned to their age-old mantra of spin-to-win. Having taken a 33-run lead over Punjab, they were 24/3 at stumps, effectively ahead by 57. Shubman Gill was out for a two-ball duck; Ravindra Jadeja made 7 with the bat and picked up two wickets with the ball. As many as 21 wickets fell to spin, with left-arm spinner Harpreet Brar, playing in just his third first-class game, picking up eight of those wickets.

In Alur, Madhya Pradesh kept Karnataka bowlers at bay for large parts, ending on 244 for 5. Venkatesh Iyer top scored with 87, but Karnataka will be relieved to have picked up three wickets to bounce back in the final session of play.

Jalaj Saxena picked up his 500th wicket en route figures of 6 for 79 as Maharashtra skittled Goa for 209, before ending 19/0.

Last year's finalists Kerala continued to have a tough time as they were bowled out for 139, with Chandigarh overhauling their target to be ahead by 2 runs at stumps. They have nine wickets in hand.

Group C

Sudip Chatterjee made 140*, while Abhimanyu Easwaran made 81 as Bengal dominated proceedings against Services in Kalyani. They ended the day on 340 for 4.

Railways took the honours, finishing on 77 for 2 after bowling out Gujarat for 175. Bhargav Merai, former Gujarat allrounder now playing for Railways, picked up 3 for 25.

Assam limped to 187 for 6 on a curtailed day in Guwahati against Haryana

Birthday boy Swapnil Singh made a fighting unbeaten 60 to lift Tripura to 266 against Uttarakhand in Agartala

Group D

A 249-run third-wicket stand between Sarfaraz Khan (142*) and Siddesh Lad (104) helped Mumbai dominate, as they finished on 342 for 4 against Mohammed Siraj-led Hyderabad. It could've a better day if not for Lad's wicket in what turned out to be the second-last over.

Jammu & Kashmir bowled out Pondicherry for 233; Yudhvir Singh picking up three wickets

A last-wicket stand of 97 between Money Grewal and Ayush Doseja lifted Delhi to 216. Chhattisgarh then ended strongly on 52 for 0.

An unbeaten 118 from Pukhraj Mann fuelled Himachal's day, as they finished on 314 for 4 against Rajasthan.

Of these, 18 wickets have fallen to spin.

Saurashtra have taken a 33-run lead despite being bowled out for just 172.

Parth Bhuth the bowling star with five wickets, while the Jadejas - Ravindra and Dharmendrasinh - picked up two apiece.

Since his first-class debut in December 2005, no one has taken more Ranji Trophy wickets than Jalaj Saxena. Nearly two decades into his career, he continues to push boundaries at an age where several of his contemporaries have long retired.

He spoke about his passion for the game and what keeps him going during the Ranji knockouts last year. But much of what he said is still very relevant. Here's the full interview.

Sarfaraz Khan has raced to 86 in literally a session as Mumbai head into tea at 204 for 3 against Hyderabad. His fourth-wicket stand with Siddesh Lad is worth 122.

From 119 for 9, Delhi's No. 11 Money Grewal has added 76 with Ayush Doseja (97 not out). Delhi are noe 195/9 against Chhattisgarh

Gujarat have been bowled out for 175 v Railways

Venky Iyer is approaching a half-century as MP 159/2 v Karnataka in Alur

12 wickets have fallen already and we're not even two sessions in.

Punjab have lost two of those, and it's quite unusual that Gill hasn't come in even at No. 4. It's Nehal Wadhera who walks out to join Prabhsimran Singh at the crease.

The only reason I can think of is they want to preserve Gill against two rampant left-arm spinners: Jadeja & Jadeja.

A century was there for the taking. Our reporter, Rajan Raj, says it was a flawless innings up until then, before something truly bizarre happened.

The incident unfolded on the final ball of the 41st over, just prior to drinks. As the ball was hit back to the bowler, Aditya Kumar, gently, Easwaran left the crease and began walking to have a sip of water.

It was truly a brain fade moment because the ball wasn't dead, and the bowler allowed it to brush his fingers and deflect it back onto the stumps.

Even the bowler was unaware that the non-striker had stepped out of his crease. It was only after the ball struck the stumps that he noticed the batter was well out. An appeal followed, leading the on-field umpire to refer the decision to the third umpire, who eventually ruled him out.

Bengal 174/2 v Services

It's Harpreet Brar's maiden first-class five-for in his third game.

Saurashtra have been bundled out for 172 inside two sessions. Shubman Gill will be out to bat very soon.

Harpreet Brar has been a familiar presence on the domestic circuit for nearly a decade, yet this is only his third first-class appearance.

On a rank turner at the Niranjan Shah Stadium, he has now left Saurashtra reeling, picking up four wickets to reduce them to 157 for 8. Jay Gohil, unbeaten on 78, is fighting a lone battle to keep the innings afloat.

With both teams in a must-win clash to stay in contention for the knockouts, the stakes could hardly be higher.

From 60/0, Hyderabad have reduced Mumbai to 86/3 at Uppal.

Siraj among wickets with the dismissal of the set Akash Anand for 35.

Sarfaraz Khan has come out to bat at No. 5, to join Siddesh Lad.

Bengal openers Abhimanyu Easwaran & Sudip Chatterjee in a half-century stand against Services in Kalyani.

Siraj's first spell reads 6-2-12-0, but Mumbai have gotten off to a solid start. They're 40 for 0, with Herwadkar and Akash Anand at the crease

Ravindra Jadeja out for 7 as Saurashtra looking wobbly at 100 for 4 against Punjab in Rajkot.

Vijay Hazare champs Vidarbha rocked early. Andhra's K Satyanarayana Raju, who played for Mumbai Indians last year, hs picked up each of the four wickets to fall. They're 45/4.

PS: Scorecards will be updated at the end of every session, or periodically.

He's just shy of turning 42, but Bengal's evergreen fighter Anustup Majumdar is playing his 100th first-class match. Earlier in the season, he went past 100 List A matches.

He played arguably one of the greatest knocks in the Ranji Trophy in the last 10 years when he made 149 on an Eden Gardens green top against Karnataka in the semi-final to help Bengal set up a finale with Saurashtra.

You can relive that knock here. Our correspondent Varun Shetty witnessed it first-hand.

It's also his first Ranji outing of the season for Hyderabad, who have elected to bowl first against Mumbai.

I'm told they're playing on a greenish looking surface with Hyderabad having to win both their remaining matches to make a pitch for the quarterfinals. Mumbai, meanwhile, currently top the group with Jammu & Kashmir a close second.

That's the view of former Australia captain Michael Clarke. Agree?

Shubman Gill and Ravindra Jadeja headline a high-stakes clash as Punjab take on Saurashtra in Rajkot.

Saurashtra, currently fourth in Group B, need wins in both their remaining matches to keep their qualification hopes alive. Punjab, placed sixth and two points behind their opponents, are in a similar bind — realistically needing two wins, ideally with bonus points.

By the end of this round, only one of these teams is likely to remain in the qualification race — unless a high-scoring draw eliminates both. That, however, appears unlikely, with a rank turner expected to greet the teams.

Saurashtra have won the toss and chosen to bat. They are 12 without loss.