Road to the Ranji Trophy final

By Mohandas Menon

Two of the less fancied teams - Baroda and Railways - have made it to 2000-01 Ranji Trophy final. And they have, en route, got the better of stronger teams in the knock-out phase and one more victory will mean so much to either of these unsung teams, and will give the coveted Trophy. Fallowing is the summary of how they traversed to reach the stage of the summit clash.

Baroda's passage

West Zone league: 1. Beat Saurashtra by an innings and 94 runs at Baroda (GSFC) from 25-28 November 2000; 2. Lost to Maharashtra on first innings lead at Baroda (IPCL) from 8-11 December 2000; 3. Lost to Mumbai on first innings lead at Mumbai (MIG) from 23-26 December 2000; 4. Beat Gujarat on first innings lead at Ahmedabad from 29 December 2000- 1 January 2001.

Knock-out: 5. Beat Bengal by 222 runs at Baroda (GSFC) from 10-14 March 2001 (pre-quarterfinals); 6. Beat Tamil Nadu by 160 runs at Baroda (GSFC) from 22-25 March 2001 (quarterfinals); 7. Beat Orissa on first innings lead at Baroda (GSFC) from 5-9 April 2001 (semifinal).

Railways' passage

Central Zone league: 1. Beat Madhya Pradesh on first innings lead at Delhi (KSS) from 30 October-2 November 2000; 2. Beat Vidarbha by an innings and 28 runs at Delhi (KSS) from 6-9 November 2000; 3. Beat Uttar Pradesh on first innings lead at Meerut from 13-16 November 2000; 4. Lost to Rajasthan on first innings lead at Jaipur (KLS) from 29 November- 2 December 2000.

Knock-out: 5. Beat Maharashtra on first innings lead at Pune from 10-14 March 2001 (pre quarterfinals); 6. Beat Karnataka on first innings lead Delhi (KSS) from 22-26 March 2001 (quarterfinals); 7. Beat Punjab by five wickets at Mohali from 5-9 April 2001 (semifinals).

Baroda's history

The Central Board of Cricket, Baroda was formed in April 1934, but as a part of Gujarat until 1937, when Baroda applied for a separate affiliation to the BCCI. This was granted and Baroda joined the Ranji Trophy in 1937-38 and has

played in the West Zone every season since.

Winner (4 occasions): 1942-43; 1946-47; 1949-50; 1957- 58. Runner-up (2 occasions): 1945-46, 1948-49. In all, Baroda, since 1937-38, has appeared in 258 Ranji Trophy matches - winning and losing outright 53 matches each.

Railways' history

The Railways Sports Control Board was affiliated to the BCCI in 1957; led by veteran Lala Amarnath, the Railways team joined the Ranji Trophy in 1958-59 from the North Zone, and was transferred to Central Zone in 1975-76, although the head-quarters of the Railway Sports Board is still based in New Delhi.

Winners (nil): Runners-up (once): 1987-88. In all, Railways since 1958-59, has appeared in 213 Ranji Trophy matches - winning outright 64 matches, while losing only 41.

Head to head record

The two teams met twice in the Ranji Trophy and on both occasions Baroda won on first innings lead.

1. Baroda beat Railways on first innings lead at Baroda (IPCL) from 20-23 January 1997 (1996-97 Super League): Baroda 439 (C.C. Williams 64, J.J. Martin 114, K.S. More 82, T.B. Arothe 72; Iqbal Thakur 4-89, S.B. Bangar 3-70) vs Railways 223 (Yere Gowd 77 not out; R.A. Swaroop 5-68) and 246-5 (Satendra Yadav 82, Yere Gowd 100 not out) - Railways was made to follow on.

2. Baroda beat Railways on first innings lead at New Delhi (Karnail Singh Stadium) from 16-19 February 2000 (1999-00 Super League). Railways 506 (Vishal Sharma 43, Yere Gowd 182, Devendra Singh 47, S.V. Wankhede 139; V.N. Buch 4-109) vs Baroda 516-9 (C.C. Williams 123, H.R. Jadhav 109, A.C. Bedade 51, T.B. Arothe 41, A.P. Bhoite 52, Rakesh Patel 53 not out).

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