Ranji Trophy: Saurashtra’s road to the final

Saurashtra, led by Jaydev Shah, put behind them their dismal last season - they finished last in Group B and were relegated to Group C - and made a rousing start to their 2015-16 Ranji Trophy campaign with four consecutive wins and never looked like missing the knockouts. They topped their group with 36 points to confirm their promotion out of the weakest group for next season, and then brushed aside their opponents in the quarter-finals and semi-finals to set up a final against Mumbai, whom they lost to in the 2013-13 final in what is their only appearance at the summit.Here TOI Sports takes a look at the hurdles they had to clear for the summit clash.
1st match, v Tripura at Rajkot - Won by an innings and 118 runs
Dropped from all formats for the Indian team, Ravindra Jadeja marked his return to domestic cricket with an emphatic all-round performance that helped Saurashtra drub Tripura by an innings and 118 runs. With the bat, he first made 91 to help the hosts to 307, but it was his left-arm spin that really crippled Tripura. Jadeja's exceptional figures of 27.1-13-27-6 bowled Tripura out for 103, and following on the visitors slumped to 86 in 53 overs with Jadeja adding five more wickets to end with match figures of 11/72.
2nd match, v Jharkhand at Rajkot - Won by eight wickets
With 24 wickets in two matches, Jadeja stood eight clear of the next most successful bowler in the competition at the time, Services' rookie Diwesh Pathania. And, not surprisingly, his stupendous success ensured that Saurashtra crushed Jharkhand in just two days. For a player desperate to make it back into national reckoning, there was no better way to remind the selectors than taking 24 wickets at an average of 8.25 to go with 149 runs at 74.50. Jadeja's 6/71 shunted the visitors for 168, and then he top-scored with 58 out of Saurashtra's 205 when the next best individual score was 27. Figures of 25-5-55-7 rolled over Jharkhand for 122 when they batted a second time, which left Saurashtra to chase 86.
3rd match, v Hyderabad at Rajkot - Won by 35 runs
Saurashtra made it a hat-trick of wins by rolling over Hyderabad for 148 and 134. This match started with the hosts bowled out for 102 - only Sagar Jogiyani (51) crossed 17 - but six more wickets to Jadeja and four to offspinner Kamlesh Makvana kept Hyderabad to 148. Chirag Jani and the lower order rallied to get the total to 215, setting Hyderabad 170 to win. Jadeja's 7/60 kept them to 134.
4th match, v Services at Delhi - Won by 4 wickets
Twin centuries from Rajat Paliwal went in vain as Saurashtra chased down a target of 302 runs on the fourth and final day to record their fourth win on the trot and thus top the table. After opting to field, thanks to left-arm pacer Jaydev Unadkat's 6/80, Saurasthra bowled Services out for 254 on the opening day with Paliwal scoring a strokeful century. Saurashtra fared a tad better, gaining a paltry lead of 10 runs before Services put up a much improved batting performance in their second dig with Yashpal Singh (115) and Paliwal (103) scoring tons. They declared overnight with the total at 311/6, leaving Saurashtra 302 to win on the fourth day. Fifties from Mohsin Dodia, Jadeja and Arpit Vasavada took Saurashtra over the line with four wickets remaining.
5th match, v Goa at Rajkot – Draw
Goa broke Saurashtra's winning streak but couldn't stop them from securing a first innings lead despite a spirited performance against the table-toppers. A maiden first-class century for Darshan Misal and a handy 45 by Rituraj Singh low down the order helped Goa cross the 200-run mark in the first innings. Rituraj continued to make an impact with a four-wicket haul that reduced Saurashtra to 182/8. However, the lower order managed to secure a vital 19-run first-innings lead. Goa then tried making a match out of it, declaring their second innings at 299/7, setting 282-run target for their hosts. Saurashtra set out to chase the target and at one stage, looked good at 202/2 on the final day when Amit Yadav changed the complexion with three quick strikes and eventually, the two sides had to settle for a draw.
6th match, v Himachal Pradesh at Rajkot - Draw
In the clash of the top two teams in Group C, Himachal Pradesh took three first-innings points off leaders Saurashtra. Seven points separated the two teams when the round began, but Himachal reduced that gap by posting 551. This, despite a rare failure for marathon man Paras Dogra, who made 23. Getting those three points was tough work for Himachal, and it needed 172 overs with Saurashtra captain Jaydev Shah making his 100th first-class appearance with 142 and the lower order digging in too.
7th match, v Kerala at Malappuram - Lost by 45 runs
Sixteen wickets fell on the opening day of Kerala's home game with Saurashtra, and 14 on the second - the entire match lasting 197.1 overs. Kerala's collapse to 105 in their second innings was followed by Saurashtra subsiding for just 69 in pursuit of 115. The visiting team had been led splendidly by left-arm spinner Dharmendrasinh Jadeja's 11 wickets in the match, but on the second day their batsmen had no answer to another left-armer, KS Monish, who followed 6/81 in the first innings with 5/46.
8th match, v Jammu & Kashmir at Jammu – Won by an innings and 63 runs
Saurashtra booked their quarter-final berth in style, recording their second bonus-point win of the season, drubbing a hapless Jammu and Kashmir at the Gandhi Memorial Science College Ground. Medium-pacer Shaurya Sanandia took a five-wicket haul to bowl J&K out inside 50 overs for a paltry 138 in the first innings. In reply, middle-order batsman Sheldon Jackson scored a century and Jaydev Unadkat 92 while batting at no. 9 as Saurashtra took a huge 359-run lead. J&K fared better in their second effort with the bat but it was only due to Ian Dev Singh's 127 at the top. However, offpsinner Kamlesh Makvana took seven for 100 as J&K folded for 296, handing Saurashtra an innings win.
QF v Vidarbha at Vizianagaram – Won by an innings and 85 runs
Unadkat took 9 for 116 as Saurashtra sailed into the last-four, crushing Vidarbha inside three days. Asked to bat, Vidarbha survived 50.4 overs with veteran Wasim Jaffer top-scoring with 41 in a total of 151. In response, Sagar Jogiyani and Jackson scored centuries, neutralising Umesh Yadav's 5 for 81 to post 375 and take a lead of 224. Unadkat followed his first-innings' five-wicket haul with a four-for in the next, combining with Deepak Punia (3/32) to shoot Vidarbha out for 139.
SF v Assam at Vadodara – Won by 10 wickets
Saurashtra punched their ticket to a second Ranji final in four years by thumping Assam by 10 wickets in three days. Unadkat continued to spit fire, adding two more five-wicket hauls to his tally in the ongoing season, returning match figures of 11 for 122. Batting first, Assam were rescued by the middle-order pair of Amit Verma and Arun Karthik after a top-order collapse left them at 25/3 in 13.2 overs. Karthik scored a fifty while Verma was the last man to be dismissed for 98 as other Assam batsmen found no answer to the pace of Unadkat, surrendering for 234. Led by Cheteshwar Pujara's 126, Saurashtra managed to take 119-run lead followed by another superlative bowling effort from Unadkat that steamrolled Assam for 139. The Saurashtra openers completed the formalities without wasting a second, chasing down 21 in 3.1 overs.