Saurashtra, Baroda in do-or-die Ranji tie from tomorrow

Rajkot: Saurashtra and Baroda will lock horns in a crucial Ranji Trophy group B match here from tomorrow at the Saurashtra Cricket Association`s stadium here.

Both the teams need an outright win to keep the hopes of entering the knockout stage but Saurashtra will have the home advantage. Saurashtra, who drew their last match against Madhya Pradesh, have 16 points from six matches while Baroda, who beat services in the previous match, had 14 points from six matches. "Both the teams need nothing less then an outright win to qualify for knock-out stage," said Jaydev Shah, Saurashtra captain. "Our focus is now to win both the matches and we might have an advantage of playing on the home ground." Jaydev, who is in good form, will be shouldering the batting responsibility alongwith Sagar Jogiyani, Sheldon Jackson, Arpit Vasavada and Bhushan Chauhan. Jaydev Unadkat and Abhishek Bhatt would handle the new ball, to be supported by spinners Kamlesh Makwana, Vishal Joshi and Dharmendra Jadeja. Baroda skipper Yusuf Pathan is hopeful that his teammates would do their best. "We have lost two games but our young players have clicked at the right time and I am hoping that they would deliver their best," Pathan said, conceding that hosts may have advantage of home ground. Munaf Patel, who bowled magnificently against Services in last match, would spearhead Baroda`s bowling attack, supported by Gagandeep Singh, Irfan Pathan and spinners Yusuf Pathan and Bhargav Bhatt. The batting line-up includes Aditya Waghmode, Kedar Devdhar, Dhiren Mistrey, skipper Pathan and Irfan Pathan. Teams: Baroda: Yusuf Pathan (capt), Irfan Pathan, Aditya Waghmode, Kedar Devdhar, Saurabh Warkarkar, Dhiren Mistrey, Pinal Shah, Gagandeep Singh, Bhargav Bhatt, Utkarsh Patel, Abhijeet Karmblekar, Firdaush Bhaja, Murtuza Vahora, Baba Safi Khan Pathan and Ketul Patel. Saurashtra : Jaydev Shah (capt), Sagar Jogiyani, Chirag Pathak, Bhushan Chauhan, Sheldon Jackson, Arpit Vasavada, Kamlesh Makwana, Jaydev Unadkat, Abhishek Bhatt, Dharmendra Jadeja, Vishal Joshi, Nayan Doshi, Sandip Maniar and Chirag Jani.