Ranji Trophy: Rinku Singh hits his 2nd hundred of the season

Rinku Singh played a magnificent unbeaten 118 to lift Uttar Pradesh to 202 after an early collapse against Goa in their Ranji Trophy Elite Group A encounter on Sunday. Goa reached 43 for no wicket at the end of the game, trailing by 159 runs.

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This was Rinku’s second hundred of the Ranji Trophy campaign as he showed that he should be a name that can be an option for the Test team in the future. Rinku hit 11 fours and two sixes in a decisive innings that held the UP batting together. Batting first, the hosts were rocked when Abhishek Goswami (5), Aryan Juyal (14) and Karan Sharma (0) fell cheaply, leaving them struggling at 33 for three.

Madhav Kaushik provided some stability with 45 deliveries off 96, but his dismissal on 90 for four left the onus firmly on Rinku. The middle and lower order offered limited support but the batter ensured that UP crossed the 200-run mark and finished unbeaten as the innings ended on 202 in 71 overs.

Goa leg-spinner Yash Kasvankar led the bowling effort with five wickets for 86 runs from 25 overs. Ruthvik Naik claimed two wickets while Shubham Tari and Lalit Yadav claimed one each.

In the other Group A match, Baroda reached 77 for three in reply to Bihar’s innings total of 166. Bihar were dismissed in 53 overs and will look for more breakthroughs when play resumes on the second day.

MP LOSE 2 WICKETS AGAINST PUDUCHERRY

Puducherry were bowled out for 177 in 65.2 overs before Madhya Pradesh ended the day on 23 for two in 20 overs. After 154 runs, MP face the task of rebuilding their innings so they don’t get a significant lead in the first innings.

J&K POST 260 AGAINST VIDARBHA

Defending champions Jammu and Kashmir managed 260 before being bowled out in 82.5 overs after Vidarbha opted to bat in their Group A clash. Vidarbha will open their innings on the second day with the aim of building a first innings lead.

Tushar Deshpande led Mumbai’s four-wicket bowling effort to dismiss Himachal Pradesh for 140 on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Group D encounter on Sunday. Mumbai ended the day on 107 for two after 36 overs, leaving them just 33 runs out to secure a first-innings lead.

Deshpande returned figures of 4/46 as Himachal was bowled out in 39.5 overs. He made an immediate impact by removing opener Shubham Arora for a duck off the first delivery of the match before catching Nehal Wadheru lbw for eight. Mohit Avasthi dismissed the second bowler, Innesh Mahajan, for 11 as Himachal slumped to 22 for three.

Himachal captain Pukhraj Mann (35), wicketkeeper Vaibhav Kalita (33) and Akash Vasisht (39) tried to rebuild the innings but the Mumbai bowlers kept the pressure on. Sylvester D’Souza took two wickets for 43 runs as the hosts failed to post a substantial total.

Mumbai also lost both their openers, with Divyaansh Saxena scoring nine and Angkrish Raghuvanshi 20. Musheer Khan, not out on 34, and skipper Siddhesh Lad, not out on 32, then put on an unbroken partnership of 75 runs to put their side in the lead.

Deshpande, who is appearing in his 51st first-class match, is now closing in on the 150-wicket mark in the format.

GURJAPNEET, KISHORE PUT TN UP

In Chennai, Gurjapneet Singh and R Sai Kishore picked up four wickets each as Tamil Nadu bowled out Uttarakhand for 134 on the first day of their encounter. Gurjapneet returned figures of 4/34 while left-arm spinner Sai Kishore finished with 4/40 as Uttarakhand were dismissed in 56.2 overs.

Avneesh Sudha top-scored with 54 while Mayank Mishra contributed 33 but the rest of the batting line-up struggled against the Tamil Nadu attack.

Tamil Nadu reached 85 for two in reply at stumps, with Narayan Jagadeesan scoring 37 and Pradosh Ranjan Paul remaining unbeaten on 37. The hosts need another 50 runs to move ahead of Uttarakhand’s first innings total.

GILL FALLS BUT SAHARAN SHINES

Shubman Gill’s return to Ranji Trophy cricket ended almost as soon as it began, but Punjab skipper Uday Saharan came up with an unbeaten century to guide the hosts to 269 for four against Chhattisgarh on the opening day of their Elite Group B encounter on Sunday.

Gill, appearing in red-ball cricket ahead of India’s tour of New Zealand, he managed just one run off five deliveries before Ajay Mandal broke through his defence. The left-arm delivery came up with an arm to bowl the Indian skipper, leaving Punjab at 68 for three.

Punjab got off to a positive start with openers Vihaan Malhotra and Harnoor Singh taking the score to 55 for no loss. However, their dismissals in quick succession sparked a mini-collapse before Gill’s departure added to the pressure.

Saharan then took the lead with a composed 106 not out from 179 balls, hitting 13 boundaries. Combined with Prabhsimran Singh, who scored 62 off 133 deliveries, for a crucial 130-run partnership for the fourth wicket that revived the innings.

Prabhsimran eventually succumbed to Dharmendrasinh Jadeja but Saharan continued to anchor the batting effort. He added an unbeaten 71-run stand for the fifth wicket with Salil Arora batting on 38 at the stumps to put Punjab in a strong position.

MANVANTH SAVES KARNATAKA AGAINST SAURASHTRA

Karnataka recovered from a precarious position to finish on 281 for eight against Saurashtra in Alur thanks to an unbeaten 86 from Manvanth Kumar.

Karnataka looked headed for trouble at 194 for eight before Manvanth and Abhilash Shetty, unbeaten on six, combined for an unbroken partnership of 81 runs for the ninth wicket. Playing only his second first-class match, Manvanth’s knock proved crucial in helping Karnataka recover from a late collapse against their arch-rivals.

– The end