Road to the Ranji Trophy final

Two of the less fancied teams - Baroda and Railways - once again made it to the Ranji Trophy final. Last season too these two teams contested the final. However this season, the teams 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.

Following is a summary of how they reached the summit clash again in successive seasons.

Baroda's passage

West Zone league:

1. Lost to Gujarat by 9 runs at Baroda (GSFC) from 22-25 November 2001;
2. Lost to Mumbai by an innings & 141 runs at Baroda (IPCL) from 29 November- 2 December 2001;
3. Beat Saurashtra by an innings & 184 runs at Rajkot from 6-8 December 2001;
4. Beat Maharashtra by 6 wickets at Pune from 5-8 January 2002.

Knock-out:

5. Beat Hyderabad by an innings & 256 runs at Baroda (GSFC) from 5-8 February 2002 (Quarter-final);
6. Beat Punjab by 136 runs at Baroda (GSFC) from 13-15 February 2002 ( Semi-final);

Railways' passage

Central Zone league:

1. Beat Uttar Pradesh by 10 wickets at Delhi (KSS) from 20-23 October 2001;
2. Beat Rajasthan on first innings lead at Delhi (KSS) from 27-30 October 2001;
3. Beat Vidarbha by 10 wickets at Nagpur from 10-12 November 2001;
4. Beat Madhya Pradesh on first innings lead at Indore from 22-25 November 2001

Knock-out:

5. Beat Delhi on first innings lead at Delhi (KSS) from 23-27 January 2002 (Pre quarter-final);
6. Beat Tamil Nadu by 8 wickets at Delhi (KSS) from 5-9 February 2002 (Quarter-final);
7. Beat Bengal on first innings lead at Delhi (KSS) from 13-17 February 2002 (Semi-final);

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 (5 occasions): 1942-43; 1946-47; 1949-50; 1957- 58; 2000-01.
Runner-up (twice): 1945-46, 1948-49.
In all, Baroda, since 1937-38, has played 265 Ranji Trophy matches - winning 58 and losing 55 matches outright.

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.

Runners-up (twice): 1987-88, 2000-01. In all, Railways since 1958-59, has played 221 Ranji Trophy matches - winning outright 67 matches, while losing only 41.

Head to head record

The two teams met on three occasions in the Ranji Trophy, with Baroda winning on all the three occasions - twice on first innings lead and once outright - by 21 runs - in the last year's final.

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).

3. Baroda beat Railways by 21 runs at Baroda (GSFC Stadium) from 19-23 April 2001 (2000-01 Final):

Baroda 243 (CC Williams 65, TB Arothe 52, AP Bhoite 57; Harvinder Singh 4-59, SB Bangar 3-55) and 373 (SS Parab 141, CC Williams 41, JJ Martin 87 not out; SB Bangar 3-94, TP Singh 4-82) beat Railways 394 (SB Bangar 62, TP Singh 67, Y Gowda 65, M Kartik 79, KS Parida 47; Z Khan 3-92, VN Buch 3-86) and 201 (SV Wankhede 58, SK Sahu 42; Z Khan 5-43, AP Bhoite 3-59).

Mail Cricket Editor