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Liverpool are beginning to resemble something of last season’s title-winning team. There is a long way to go, but Arne Slot’s side have won back-to-back-to-back in the Premier League, and they are unbeaten in seven matches altogether.

Instrumental in this blooming revival has been Florian Wirtz, whose velvet touches and crafty playmaking have started to pay dividends after a challenging start.

Routinely, the German midfielder, who signed from Bayer Leverkusen for £116m in July, has been the architect of Slot’s still-struggling system, creating 13 chances from five matches in December, as per Sofascore, and finally breaking his duck during the weekend win over Wolves at Anfield.

Burt Liverpool are still lacking something from an attacking perspective, and that appears to be sporting director Richard Hughes’ emphasis heading into the January transfer window.

Liverpool eyeing attacking additions

Slot will be sleeping a little easier after stopping the rot that had spread across Liverpool’s campaign, now settled in the top four of the Premier League once again, albeit some distance away from first-placed Arsenal.

There is still a shakiness to Liverpool’s defending, and the Reds are lack fluency when building attacks up, so it’s understandable that FSG are ready to invest in spite of their record-breaking summer of spending.

Some may clamour for a centre-back, but there’s a sense Liverpool are going to wait until the summer for Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehi.

Should Slot want Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo, however, Liverpool must strike now, with Manchester City closing on the Ghanaian forward.

The pointers suggest Semenyo is headed for the Etihad Stadium, but The Telegraph have revealed that Liverpool are primed to launch an ambitious hijack, with the 26-year-old’s £65m release clause there for the taking.

Hughes initiated talks with Bournemouth in November, but discussions haven’t been followed up on. That could soon change, though, as the market prepares to open for business.

Why Liverpool must push for Antoine Semenyo

Semenyo is the talk of the Premier League. He has scored nine goals and provided three assists across 17 matches for Bournemouth, and pundit Chris Waddle has even described him as “the best winger in England” this season.

Two-footed and with an eye for goal, the pacy and powerful winger has all the ingredients to succeed at Liverpool, and Slot would surely find balance across his frontline by adding the former Bristol City prospect to his mix.

Wirtz got off the mark against Wolves, but it’s easy to forget that the German’s duties centre on being creative, supplying teammates. As per FBref, the 22-year-old ranks among the top 10% of positional peers in the Premier League for shot-creating actions and the top 2% for progressive passes per 90.

This contrasts perfectly with Semenyo’s purposeful strides from the wing and into the danger area. A nine-goal return is nothing to be sniffed at, especially when considering he has only missed five big chances.

Premier League 25/26 – Antoine Semenyo

Stats (* per game)

#

Matches (starts)

17 (17)

Goals

9

Assists

3

Touches

49.4

Shots (on target)*

2.5 (1.5)

Accurate passes*

20.0 (77%)

Chances created*

1.4

Succ. dribbles*

1.6

Ball recoveries*

5.1

Tackles + interceptions*

1.7

Duels won*

6.4

Data via Sofascore

In this, Semenyo is growing into a true superstar, and one who could form a formidable alliance with Wirtz in Liverpool’s frontline.

Join the newsletter for deeper Liverpool transfer insight Subscribe to the newsletter for focused transfer analysis, talent scouting and tactical context — coverage that connects targets like Antoine Semenyo and creative profiles such as Florian Wirtz to Liverpool’s recruitment strategy.

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Among Liverpool’s biggest problems have been their physicality and ability to react to issues that arise in any given match. Wirtz, however, is a natural problem-solver, and he just needs more fluent teammates around him to go from strength to strength.

Semenyo’s “world-class” consistency, as has been noted by teammate Justin Kluivert, has fired him into the ascendancy. Now Liverpool must take advantage and stop him from moving to rivals Manchester City.

Liverpool have been known to steal players from under rival suitors’ noses in the past. Luis Diaz was seemingly bound for Tottenham in 2023; Cody Gakpo was honing in on a transfer to Old Trafford after the World Cup in Qatar.

Semenyo’s directness would see him mimic and outstrip such players. He is ferocious in front of goal, and this could work in tandem with Wirtz’s creativity to restore the sparkle to the Anfield side’s frontline.

Related Slot's own Rice: Liverpool have submitted an offer for £61m "monster"

Liverpool have reportedly made an offer to sign a £61m star who could be their own version of Declan Rice.

Posts 1 ByDan Emery

	Andrew Symonds says there was no bad blood between Australia and India until he and Harbhajan Singh had an on-field altercation © Getty Images

Andrew Symonds says he was surprised by the on-field incident that led to Harbhajan Singh being suspended for three Tests because there had been “no bad blood” in the series before that moment. The match referee Mike Procter found Harbhajan guilty of making a racist comment directed at Symonds while Harbhajan was batting in the Sydney Test, although India can appeal the decision.”This is what happened before our confrontation,” Symonds said in the . “Brett Lee had just sent down a delivery and Harbhajan took off down the wicket. When he was returning to his crease, he decided to hit Brett on the backside. I have no idea why he did it.”I was standing nearby and when I saw what happened, I thought, ‘Hold on, that’s not on’. I’m a firm believer in sticking up for your team-mate so I stepped in and had a bit of a crack at Harbhajan, telling him exactly what I thought of his antics. He then had a shot back, which brings us to the situation we’re facing.”Whether that situation was handled in the best way possible remains a subject of debate. The umpires spoke to Harbhajan on the field – Mark Benson even covered his mouth to avoid lip-reading television viewers – and reported him to Procter after they received a complaint from Australia’s captain Ricky Ponting.”I must admit the incident was pretty surprising, because relations between the two sides so far have been very good,” Symonds said. “It’s been a series played in really good spirit. There’s been no sledging or bad blood.”There was definitely animosity between the teams after the Harbhajan-Symonds incident, however, with Australia’s strong appealing on the final day drawing the ire of India’s captain Anil Kumble. He questioned whether Australia were playing within the spirit of the game, while Ponting strongly defended his team’s integrity.Adam Gilchrist has responded to Kumble’s allegation with caution. “I didn’t see his comments,” Gilchrist told . “I would like to think that’s not quite right. We haven’t gone outside any boundaries. I don’t know what Kumble was exactly referring to.”Talking about his appeal against Dravid, Gilchrist said: “There are times when you don’t know. So, you ask the question. Every player has right to ask the umpire. I will say I don’t appeal if I don’t think they are out. If I am not sure, I will ask the umpire and I’ll accept his decision.”

The aeroplane may not take off in the Caribbean © Getty Images

Shoaib Akhtar, Pakistan’s premier fast bowler, fears that he could miss the World Cup after suffering a knee injury that may take three to four weeks to heal. Doctors have advised Akhtar to have scans to reveal the extent of the injury to the left knee, which was operated on, along with the right knee, in February last year.”I am devastated at the thought of missing the World Cup,” Akhtar told AFP, just a month away from the start of the World Cup in the West Indies, which kicks off with Pakistan playing the hosts on March 13. “I was excited at the prospect of playing the World Cup. I want to help my team winthe World Cup and I hope this injury is not worse and I am able to play some part in Pakistan’s cup campaign.”His selection in the squad was also subject to his clearing a doping test to be carried out on February 16. Akhtar tested positive for banned steroids in October last year. If scans reveal serious injury, then Akhtar will have to fly to Australia for an operation and it could rule him out of the World Cup.The latest injury scare to Akhtar compounds Pakistan’s problems as they are already grappling with injury worries to key pacemen Umar Gul (ankle), Shabbir Ahmed (hamstring) and Mohammad Sami (back). To add to their problems, the International Cricket Council (ICC) turned down Pakistan’s request for an extension to the February 13 deadline for naming their World Cup squad.Salim Altaf, the Pakistan Cricket Board’s director of operations, said on Saturday that they had made a second request to the ICC as it would be difficult to name the squad without finding out the extent of the injuries. If the second request is also rejected, Pakistan would name their squad either on Monday or Tuesday, Altaf said.The 31-year-old Akhtar has been beset by injury. He was forced to return home from Pakistan’s tour of South Africa after tearing his hamstring following his 4-36 on the first day of the second Test at Port Elizabeth last month. Akhtar missed the best part of last year due to injuries. He missed Pakistan’s tour of Sri Lanka and the Test series in England. Akhtar only returned for the one-day series against England, starting in August last year, but two months later he and fellow paceman Mohammad Asif were called back from India after both tested positive for the banned steroid nandrolone.Akhtar was banned for two years and Asif for one year on doping charges in November but a month later their bans were controversially overturned on appeal. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has filed an appeal against the overturning of the ban in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Switzerland, which is not expected to hear the case until April this year.

Scorecard

Tom Cooper with his Man-of-the-Match award © Cricinfo Ltd

Australia’s future generation matched their senior side by inflicting acrushing defeat on South Africa, launching their World Cup campaign instunning style and with ruthless efficiency at the SSC ground. In what hasbeen dubbed “the group of death” – also including West Indies and the USA- this was a vital match for both teams and it was Australia who burst outof the blocks.It was a dynamic performance, started by the batsmen and Tom Cooper’s 104- the first century of the tournament – before being capped off by adominant show from the pace attack. Following their failure to reach theSuper League stage in 2004, Australia have a point to prove this timearound and come across as a highly focused and motivated unit.The chirp in the middle also showed this was a typical Australia-SouthAfrica clash. A few words were exchanged during both innings, the results of which were similar to those that have been witnessed down under in recent weeks.Simon Keen tore through the South African middle with three wickets in thefirst three overs, producing a series of deliveries that nipped off theseam. The ball to remove Romano Ramoo was a gem, drawing the approval ofthe Australia coaching staff who watched proceedings from the pressgallery.Chasing 316, South Africa were always going to be up against it, especially with theAustralian attack finding extra bounce and carry provided from the SSCpitch. Moises Henriques, the captain, made the early incisions, strikingtwice in his opening spell; Ben Cutting chopped out two for himself, andKeen made his dramatic intervention.Henriques was thrilled Australia had managed to launch their bid for athird World Cup in such empathic style. “It was the perfect start for us,”he told Cricinfo. “We struggled a bit in the practice games trying to findour feet but Coops [Tom Cooper] led from the front today and played agreat knock.”Australia suffered their own early wobble with the bat after South Africahad chosen to field, with the surface looking nearly as green as the squareand reminding Matthew Mott, the Australian assistant coach, of the Gabbain Brisbane. Chris Alexander struck twice in his third over as Australiaslipped to 4 for 2 – but that was as good as it got.Whereas Australia had the attack to keep on striking, South Africa’s wason the lightweight side once Alexander had been seen off. Cooper andHenriques settled the innings with a sensible stand, ensuring no furtherwickets were lost while the ball was hard.Henriques added that at no stage did Australia panic: “I’ve playedon worse looking pitches out here but they all end up playing fairlywell,” he said. “It helped that they had no real tall fast bowlers who could have gota bit more out of it. Our first four bowlers are all over 6’2” and hitthe deck pretty hard and there were good conditions for us today.”When the sun had got to work on the pitch it quickly became morecomfortable for the batsmen and Australia cut loose as the plethora ofspinners were introduced. Henriques launched two consecutive maximums offdas Neves to get the ball rolling, before Aaron Finch made the most ofof the solid foundations.He joined Cooper in the match-turning stand of 120, with the two batsmenoffering contrasting styles. Cooper generally preferred to keep the ballalong the ground while Finch frequented the aerial route; his fifth sixbrought up a belligerent half-century off 65 balls. Cooper, who hadwatchfully negotiated the new ball, reached his century from 138 balls – aknock that was the perfect example of how to pace and anchor a one-dayinnings.Though Cooper and Finch departed in quick succession, that left the stagefree for David Warner to launch a 50-ball 54, powering Australia past 300.South Africa ought to have learned from Cooper’s method, but the weight ofthe huge total was too much for them. Australia have laid down animpressive marker for the tournament.

Police have stopped 50 political protesters from entering the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur, according to the Press Trust of India. They were suspected of being affiliated to the same group that had attempted to damage the Mohali pitch two days ago.Eye-witnesses claimed that the protesters raised slogans and attempted to enter the stadium, a move that had little success because security had been increased there after it became known that the Green Park ground was a potential target for protesters unhappy at Pakistan’s proposed visit.Grounds around India have strengthened security to prevent untoward incidents that could hamper the smooth running of the tour.

New Zealand Women 201 (Tiffen 66*) and 102 for 4 (Fahey 60*) drew with India Women 277 (Kala 109, Jain 55, Steele 5-79)
ScorecardThe only Test of the tour between India Women and New Zealand Women drifted to a dull draw on the fourth day of the match – and chances are that even if there had been four more days, it might have ended the same way. New Zealand Women crawled to 102 for 4 in 99 overs in their second innings, anchored by a doughty 60 not out by Maria Fahey. Fahey may have made more than half the runs for her team, but she took her time doing it – all of 303 balls, spanning more than six-and-a-half hours.The final day was a battle of attrition, with the few spectators being the ones to suffer. All of 93 runs were scored in 83 overs, as New Zealand Women batted with as much resolve as, but far less initiative than, their male counterparts earlier this year. Even hit-me balls were patted or padded away, and they appeared to be batting with the view that drawing the Test would be a moral victory for them.The experienced Neetu David was the most impressive of the Indian bowlers, plugging away to take 3 for 35 in her 37 overs – though one of those wickets was an umpiring blunder on the third evening, when Kate Pulford was wrongly given out caught behind. The New Zealanders complained, but while the decision meant that Pulford had bagged a Gooch-like pair on debut, it did not impact on the match in any way.The two teams now take each other on in five one-day internationals, which are bound to produce results and will, thus, be of more interest than what has to count as one of the dullest Tests of recent years. Perhaps women’s cricket needs an Australia.

A large and expectant crowd braved the stifling heat and humidity on thesecond day of the final Janashakthi National Test at Galle to watch MuttiahMuralitharan pass the 400 mark. But they were deprived of seeing their heromake history by a bloody-minded performance by Sri Lanka’s tail.Starting the day precariously placed on 243 for six the Sri Lankan lowerorder rallied, adding a further 185 runs in five hours before being bowledout for 418, an imposing total on a powdering pitch.Belatedly, Muralitharan did appear, with six close fielders hovering aroundthe bat, but he failed to grab a wicket during a testing six-over spell,although he came close when Mahela Jayawardene spilled a catch at hisbootstraps off Stuart Carlisle, who had already been missed in the slips offfast bowler Charitha Fernando.Zimbabwe survived a potentially tricky 19 over session till the close,finishing on 18 without loss, and start again tomorrow with a follow ontarget of 219 foremost in their minds.It will not be easy. Sri Lanka’s batsman complained afterwards of a pitchthat is already disintegrating, showing variations in pace and bounce. Moreimportantly the ball is spinning violently and Muralitharan could be wellnigh impossible to play. With Monday being ‘Thai Pongal’ and a nationalholiday, the spectators will surely come again.For the crowd, the disappointment of not seeing Sri Lanka’s spin magicianpass 400 was tempered by the surprise performance of local leg-spinner UpulChandana, who narrowly missed out on a maiden Test hundred.The right-hander, picked in the team primarily for his wrist spin, joinedThilan Samaraweera in the morning after the early loss of Chaminda Vaas -guilty of flaying wildly across the line of a straight ball from HeathStreak – and helped compile a Sri Lankan record partnership for the eighthwicket.The pair added 146 runs, turning a mediocre total into a very good one. But,boy, was it painful to begin with as Zimbabawe’s makeshift spinners wentonto the defensive and the Sri Lankan pair into their shells. Only 47 runswere scored in 27 overs and the crowd could be forgiven for wondering whythey had come to watch.However, after the luncheon interval, Chandana showed greater adventure,partially breaking the deadlock with the quick use of his feet and somewristy drives. He reached his first Test fifty with a lofted drive straightdown the ground and had moved on to 81 by the tea interval.At the other end, Samaraweera was providing further evidence of animperturbable temperament as he eschewed all fripperies and stonewalled theZimbabweans, who, in turn, showed their character by staying remarkablyperky throughout their exhausting 11-hour stay in the field.After tea, the crowd’s focus moved from Muralitharan to Chandana’s century.Again they were to be frustrated. Once too often the wiry-built right-handerwaltzed down the wicket and aimed a lofted drive. He failed to get thedesired elevation and offered a skimming catch to Carlisle at mid off.The innings soon closed as Samaraweera’s 335-minute vigil came to an abruptend when he was run out after a mid-pitch hesitation with Fernando.Nevertheless, the 25-year-old’s prodigious start to international cricketcontinued. He had scored 76, his third fifty, to maintain an atomic averageof 103 after eight Tests.Murailtharan then threatened some late evening entertainment with a fewcharacteristic swipes but the innings ended when Fernando was clean bowled.Douglas Marillier was the most successful bowler, picking up four wicketsfor 101, but was not the best, too frequently dropping short or offeringjuicy low full tosses.Grant Flower was the hardest to score off as he tossed the ball outside legstump, whilst the effort of the fast bowlers, Heath Streak and TravisFriend, was perhaps the most heroic performance of the day, as the pairchurned out 58 overs on one of the most unforgiving surfaces for fastbowlers imaginable.

Colombo Cricket Club secured a four-wicket victory over Panadura CC in their final Premier Limited-Over qualification match. Despite the lackluster performance by Pandura SC, who perhaps took exception to playing in such dank weather conditions, they still have a chance of qualifying for the semi-finals, as do Colombo Cricket Club.Pandura SC were put into bat and made heavy weather of the CCC pace attack, which included the accurate Gallage, aggressive Villavarayan and bustling Boteju. All three bowled well and picked up six wickets between them.Chamara Silva, Panadura SC best batsman by a considerable margin, top scored with 40 from 75 balls, including three boundaries. When he was run out by Dalugoda Pandura’s hopes plummeted as they were left reeling on 108 for seven. An beaten 20 from 26 deliveries by number nine batsmen, Buddika Fernando, at least ensured some respectability as they finished on 152.In reply the CCC batsmen took their time and batted patiently. They lost Jehan Mubarak early on but then the ever-reliable Hunakumbura (31) and Vandort (32) compiled 48 for the second wicket.CCC appeared to be cruising for victory before a mid innings collapse created a few flutters. Losing three wickets for just 11 runs they slumped from 99 for two to 110 for five. However, Polonnowita (13) and Boteju (26) calmed the reams nerves with a 32 run partnership

While an impressive run of form over the winter schedule – including nine consecutive wins between December 26 and February 13 – saw Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic side take the lead in the Premiership title race, the Bhoys’ form has tailed off somewhat in recent fixtures.Indeed, over the Hoops’ last four outings in all competitions, the 56-year-old manager’s outfit have won one – a narrow 3-2 victory over bottom of the table Dundee FC – drawn one – a lacklustre 0-0 draw with Hibernian – and lost two – 3-1 and 2-0 defeats against Bodo/Glimt in the Europa Conference League.However, not only have the general displays of the team been poor, but a number of Postecoglou’s first-team regulars have also suffered a dip in their level of performance in recent weeks – none more so than Tom Rogic, with the attacking midfielder having averaged an extremely disappointing SofaScore match rating of just 6.48 over the four fixtures in question.As such, while David Turnbull remains out through injury, should the Greek-Australian coach wish to afford the 29-year-old a rest from his starting XI, perhaps he should look towards one of the club’s most exciting youth prospects in the Australia international’s place – in the shape of Ben Summers.

“Talented kid”

Despite being just 17 years of age, expectations of Summers are clearly extremely high amongst those in the know at Lennoxtown, with Celtic B team coach, Tommy McIntyre, stating of the forward-thinking midfielder:

“He’s a talented kid, he’s been working really hard. We know he’s still got a long way to go in terms of having to bulk up a little bit, but he’s got great footwork and he knows where the goal is. He’s got a good career ahead of himself.”

It is not difficult to see why the 58-year-old coach has high hopes of the career of Summers, as the teenager turned in a spectacular display in Celtic B’s 3-1 win over the University of Sterling on Sunday.

He cooly slotted home from 12 yards after some excellent work out wide by Ben Doak to draw his side level, before threading a defence-splitting outside of the foot pass through to Adam Brooks who tucked home to give the young Bhoys the lead midway through the second half, both of which can be seen below:

As such, while Summers is undoubtedly one to watch for the future, should Postecoglou indeed wish to give Rogic a break from his starting XI, the 17-year-old undoubtedly appears as if he possesses the ability to do a sterling job in the middle of the park for the Hoops.

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And, who knows, should the youngster impress when given a chance by the 56-year-old, perhaps he could even go on to become Celtic’s next Rogic in the long-term.

In other news: Major boost: Kieran Devlin drops teasing Celtic injury update, fans will be buzzing

	Mixing up with the big boys: Who would have expected Saurashtra to make it to the semi-finals? © Cricinfo Ltd

A Ranji Trophy is always hard to predict, what with so many teams playing in a league format. To make it even more unpredictable was the loss of players to the Indian Cricket League. Living up to the expectations and in truly unpredictable style, the Ranji Trophy 2007-08 went right down to the last round with as many as 10 teams still alive in the competition.Halfway through the league matches, nobody had expected two of the four teams that eventually reached the semi-finals to get there: Uttar Pradesh were hopeless after a bright start, Saurashtra didn’t just have the firepower.And although Delhi and Baroda made it comfortably in the end, they were far from being overwhelming favourites at the start of the season. Delhi were struggling to win matches last season with much the same personnel and were universally regarded as a muddle house of dirty politicking and infighting.Baroda, semi-finalists for the last two years, are the only team that was expected here, but as the relegation of Bengal – runners-up in the previous two seasons – shows, nothing can be taken for granted in the Ranji Trophy.

UP: the strife lovers

They fought to avoid relegation during their title defence last season, and midway through this season they were candidates again for demotion to the Plate League. With eight points to their credit and two matches to go, they couldn’t have chosen a better time to peak. There has been an uncanny similarity in their late-season rise to the 2005-06 season when they won the Ranji Trophy – they had four points from four matches then when Mohammad Kaif joined the team. Throughout the season they have sat on extremes, huge wins in three matches and listless shows in the other three.Best batsmen
Kaif, with 562 runs, and Suresh Raina, with 555, have been the major run-getters, and have carried an inexperienced and an inconsistent batting line-up, which has always been a major concern for them. Piyush Chawla and Praveen Kumar have provided useful runs down the order, making them adequate allrounders at the domestic level.Best bowlers
Their bowling is a much more potent aspect of their game. Sudeep Tyagi, who has played all their games, has carried on from a dream debut where he took 10 wickets against Orissa. Tyagi and Chawla were their main bowlers for the earlier half of the season, while Praveen Kumar and left-arm spinner Praveen Gupta have added extra sting in the latter half. The Praveens have been a major factor in their last two outright wins.Best match
The moment of truth, their last chance, the match against Bengal in the penultimate round. They needed to win their last two matches to have any chance of progressing and that’s exactly what they did, gaining a bonus point in one of them as well. The match against Bengal was pretty close if not perfect: they shot Bengal out in two sessions, batted for nearly two days, and needed a bit more than two sessions to bowl Bengal out for a second time. All the bowlers and the batsmen, right till Praveen Kumar at No. 9, contributed.

Delhi: so far so good

Delhi had an anxious last two rounds with rain washing out their penultimate game, against Karnataka, allowing the other contenders in the group to catch up. Eventually they went through with an emphatic win over Tamil Nadu. In the initial half of the season, they let the opposition off the hook twice to give themselves some anxious moments. First they couldn’t take the last two Saurashtra wickets in 48 overs and had to be content with a first-innings lead. Then, in Dharamsala, the batting imploded as they were bowled out for 75. Apart from those two glitches, their batsmen have done well and the bowlers have done enough to help them emerge leaders in Group A.

	Batmen Inc.: Chopra and Gambhir have been the best opening combination in this season’s Ranji Trophy © Cricinfo Ltd

Best batsmen
Aakash Chopra has been his stable best, Gautam Gambhir mercurial in the three matches he has played, and going into the semi-finals each one of their top five has made two centuries. The only batsman to have failed in the three matches he played is now in Australia with the Indian team.Best bowlers
The earlier victories against Rajasthan and Mumbai were built not on the batting, but bowling and the main architect was debutant left-arm swing bowler Pradeep Sangwan, who has 24 wickets at 21.20 from six matches. The bonus for Delhi has been Rajat Bhatia’s bowling which has been economical while collecting 20 wickets at a stellar average of 10.30. Bhatia is handy with the bat as well, as a century against Maharashtra shows, and provides the team much-required balance.Best match
First morning of Ranji Trophy and Delhi are bowled out for 113 and a familiar story looks in store. The bowlers bring them back into the game by bowling Rajasthan out for 85 and the batsmen put up a much-improved show in the second innings to put the matter beyond Rajasthan. That was essentially the turning point for them and the main difference between another lukewarm season and one where they are now the favourites to go all the way.

Baroda: cruising along

Baroda have had a smooth run leading up the semi-finals. The campaign was off to a great start with two wins in three games: they began with a crushing win against Bengal before beating Uttar Pradesh by 48 runs. Coached by the astute Paras Mhambrey, it has been an all-round display from the batsmen and the bowlers. The only concern is they might have peaked too early and the bowling is definitely feeling the absence of Irfan Pathan. The last two games have not gone according to plan. They followed-on – but hung on to a draw – against Andhra and gave away a first-innings lead to Orissa, but the batsmen bailed out them again in the second innings.Best batsmen
Rakesh Solanki and Connor Williams, the captain, have each amassed over 500 runs in this season and have found support from the likes of Yusuf Pathan, Pinal Shah and Azharuddin Bilakhia. Shatrunjay Gaekwad too has come on nicely with 206 runs from three games. Satyajit Parab, the opener, has had an off-and-on season, but Williams has ensured that they get off to a good start more often than not. Yusuf has attacked with vigour in the middle order to make full use of the starts.Best bowlers
It’s the spinners who have stolen the show. Yusuf has been the leader, claiming 25 wickets with his offspin, while the left-arm spinner Rajesh Pawar has bagged 20. The pair has even opened the bowling on occasions. In the absence of Irfan Pathan, Sumit Singh, with 15 wickets, has been the lone seamer who has pulled some weight.Best match
It has to be their third game of the season when they clinched a close game against UP. Parab top scored with 77 as they posted 334 before Yusuf combined with Irfan to bowl out UP for 209. But the batting collapsed in the second, giving UP a target of 275. It was Yusuf again who led the charge, supported this time by Pawar, as Baroda succeeding in bowling UP out for 225.

Saurashtra: the bolt from the blue

Last season, they lived with the fear of relegation. Things changed with the Moin-ud-Dowlah tournament, just prior to the Ranji campaign, where they beat Bengal. Self-belief and confidence kicked in and the team started to gel as a unit. With three outright wins and a No. 2 position in the group, they have surprised everyone by entering the final four. It is even more creditable as they have played away from home all season. They are a bunch of amateurs enjoying the journey towards professionalism. Can they continue their dream run?Best batsmen
Cheteshwara Pujara is the undoubted star with 796 runs, highest by any batsman this season, while Shitanshu Kotak has been the backbone of the team, scripting some typically gritty knocks that have worn down the opposition. Pujara, a natural opener, has been batting down to strengthen the middle order but with the aggressive Ravindra Jadeja, who hit 87 against Mumbai, slated to miss the semis, there is extra responsibility on the shoulders of Pujara and Kotak.Best bowlers
Don’t look further than Sandeep Jobanputra. The 25-year-old left-hand seamer has matured this season and has been their bowling spearhead. With the guidance of the coach Debu Mitra, a big influence over the team, he has been working on swinging it back in to the right-hand batsmen. Thirty-two wickets show that the hard work is paying off. The left-arm spinner Rakesh Dhurv, with 18 wickets, leads the spin department. His average has been under 25 in the last three seasons and the wickets tally has gone up steadily. Jadeja’s absence could hit them again, but offspinner Kamlesh Makvana and Sandeep Maniar, a seamer with 13 wickets this season, will provide able support to Jobanputra.Best match
If the game against Bengal gave them confidence, the fear of playing in the Elite group disappeared after a creditable draw against Delhi in the first Ranji game. Jobanputra grabbed a five-for, Kotak compiled a 203-ball 77 in the first innings and Pujara hit an unbeaten 148 in the second to stave off defeat. The last two wickets frustrated Delhi for more than 48 overs on the last day to earn that one point, which in the end proved crucial too. But more than that it brought them the self-confidence that they could come out victorious from tight situations.