Raina’s UP dismissed for paltry 72by Railways, lose in 3 days
RANJI TROPHY Former India skipper and star batsman fails with the bat for the second time
LUCKNOW: Batting failure continued to haunt hosts Uttar Pradesh this season too as they lost to Railways by 21 runs on the penultimate day of the four-day Group A Ranji Trophy encounter here on Sunday.
Chasing just 94 to win on a perfect batting pitch of the Ekana International cricket stadium, the former champions collapsed for a paltry 72 in 26 overs in their second innings, allowing a spirited Railways fetch full six points from the first encounter of the season.
The Suresh Raina-led UP, which somehow managed to avoid relegation last season, finishing seventh in the nine-team group, dominated the proceedings for almost two-and-half days before succumbing on Sunday.
After losing opener Shivam Chaudhary on duck in the very second over, UP kept losing wickets at regular intervals from both ends.
Former UP spinner Avinash, who now plays for Railways, crafted the team’s victory along with seamers Anureet Singh and Deepak Bansal. By pitching the deliveries on the right spots, Avinash left UP batsmen confused.
The left-arm orthodox bowler trapped make-shift opener Praveen Kumar (2) leg before in his very second over and thereafter remained unstoppable before snapping the last wicket on the last ball of his ninth over.
Raina, who could make just six in the first innings, failed once again and was trapped leg before by Deepak Bansal.
During his 44-ball 29, which contained three boundaries, Raina survived twice. First he was dropped by Vidyadhar Kamath at the deep mid-wicket boundary off Avinash Yadav when he was on eight, before
wicketkeeper Mahesh Rawat missed a stumping chance. Rinku Singh remained unbeaten on 23, with three hits to the fence.
Earlier, Railways resumed at
the overnight 10 for 3 and managed to score 161 in 63.3 overs in the second innings. Arindam Ghosh put up a brave face, striking his 14th half-century in first class cricket.