ALAPPUZHA (KERALA), Jan 6:
Dashing batter Rinku Singh displayed his brilliance in red-ball cricket as well, scoring a smart 92, allowing Uttar Pradesh to finish on 302 in their first innings against Kerala in their Elite Group B match of the Ranji Trophy here on Saturday.
Resuming the day on 244 for five, Rinku added 21 runs before falling to Nidheesh, who grabbed three wickets for Kerala, as the score read 295 for eight.
In reply, Kerala began on a shaky note, losing three for 32 before Sachin Baby (38) and Vishnu Vinod (74) put on a 99-run partnership for the fourth wicket. Kerala finished the day 2 on 220 for six, trailing UP by 82 runs.
Mumbai strike back
In Patna, 41-time champions Mumbai were bowled out for 251 by Bihar. The visitors were already nine wickets down for 235 at stumps on Day 1 before Mohit Avasthi (15) became the final wicket to fall for them on Saturday. For Bihar, veteran pacer Veer Pratap Singh was the star with the ball, grabbing a fifer.
However, the hosts failed to come up with a dominant display with the bat, as the Mumbai bowlers dismissed six of their batters for 89. Akash Raj is unbeaten on 26, and Bihar now trail by 162 runs.
For the visitors, pacer Avasthi has been the most impactful of all, taking four wickets. The game saw a controversy on Friday when two separate Bihar teams arrived at the venue to play. However, the team recognised by the Bihar Cricket Association president Rakesh Tiwary was given the nod to play ahead of the team formed by suspended BCA secretary Amit Kumar.
Brief scores:
In Alappuzha: Kerala 220/6 (Vishnu Vinod 74; Kuldeep Yadav 3/66) vs Uttar Pradesh: 302 (Rinku Singh 92, Dhruv Jurel 63; Nidheesh 3/68).
In Patna: Mumbai: 251 all out (Bhupen Lalwani 65, Suved Parkar 50, Tanush Kotian 50; Veer Pratap Singh 5/45) vs Bihar: 89/6 (Akash Raj 26 batting; Mohit Avasthi – 4/22).
In Raipur: Assam: 87/4 (Denish Das 29 batting; Ravi Kiran 2/6) vs Chhattisgarh: 327 all out (Ashutosh 58, Amandeep Khare 116, Shashank Singh 82; Akash Sengupta 2/45).
In Visakhapatnam: Bengal: 409 all out (Sourav Paul 96, Anustup Majumdar 125, Abishek Porel 70; L Mohan 4/134) vs Andhra: 119/3 (Prasanth Kumar 41; Mohammed Kaif – 1/10). (PTI)
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