Nath, Rinku lift UP as Mumbai bowlers struggle
MUMBAI: Mumbai bowlers Royston Dias (2/48) and Akash Parkar (2/67) made early inroads but Uttar Pradesh recovered well to reach 281 for four at stumps, courtesy Akshdeep Nath’s century and Rinku Singh’s 71 not out on the opening day of their Elite Group B Ranji Trophy match here at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday.
Akash Parkar trapped UP opener Aryan Juyal in front of the wickets for 17 off 40 balls, in the 14th over of the innings, and had the other opener Almas Shaukat caught by Shams Mulani for a 60-ball 22 in the 17th. Uttar Pradesh had elected to bat first, which initially did not look the right decision.
Mumbai pacer Dias piled further pressure on Uttar Pradesh when he cleaned up No 3 Umang Sharma for only two, leaving the visitors reeling at 48 for three in the 19th over. Batting at No 4, Nath first joined forces with Mohammad Saif, taking Uttar Pradeshto 101forthreeatthe end of the first session.
They added 96 runs for the fourth wicket to lead the recovery, but their partnership was broken in the 41st over when Dias had Saif caught behind by Aditya Tare. Saif cracked six fours and faced 60 balls to score 40. Nath found strong support in No 6 batsman Rinku, as the two kept Mumbai bowlers at bay for the remainder of the day to hand advantage back to UP.
Nath brought up his sixth First-class century—an unbeaten 115 off 215 balls with 16 fours and two sixes—whereas Rinku remained not out on 71 off 143 balls, smacking seven fours.
ASHWIN SHINES AS TN BUNDLE OUT RAILWAYS
CHENNAI: A superb performance by bowlers R Ashwin and M Siddharth and a ton by Abhinav Mukund gave Tamil Nadu the upper hand on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Group B match against Railways here .
Electing to bat, the visiting team folded for 76 in 39.1 overs as the experienced Ashwin (4/26) and left-arm spinner Siddharth (4/32) ran through the railways batting order.