Ranji Trophy: Aksh, Rinku give UP upper-hand against Mumbai

Uttar Pradesh batsman Aksh Deep Nath stuck an unbeaten hundred, which not only pulled his side out of trouble but also gave them an upper hand, on the opening day of their Elite Ranji Trophy Group B match against Mumbai here on Sunday.

Following an unbroken 137-run fifth-wicket stand between Nath (115 not out off 215 balls) andRinku Singh (71 not out off 134 balls; 7x4), UP ended the day at a decent 281/4 after being 48/3 at one stage at the Wankhede Stadium.

Mumbai pacers Akash Parkar (2-67) and Royston Dias (2 -48) initially dominated proceeding but later Nath stuck a patient hundred to ensure Mumbai could not capitalise on the early advantage.

Medium-pacer Parkar gave a double-blow to Uttar Pradesh after dismissing openers Almas Shaukat (22) and young Aryan Juyal (17) to leave the visitors in a spot of bother at 48-2.

While Shaukat gave a catch to Shams Mulani at gully, Juyal was trapped in front of the wicket by Parkar as the two openers failed to convert a good start.

Left-arm pacer Royston Dias then clean bowled one-down batsmen Umang Sharma (2) as UP was reduced to 48-3. Sharma played onto the stumps.

UP skipper Ankit Rajpoot had opted to bat and his decision seemed to have back-fired before Nath first and Mohammed Saif (42 off 60 balls) started the rescue act with their 96-run stand for the third wicket.

The visitors took lunch at 101/3.

However, when it looked like the duo was taking the game away from Mumbai, Dias broke the stand.

Saif was caught in the deep off Dias with UP yet to go past the 150-run mark.

Meanwhile, Nath who had hit a flurry of fifties en route to his half-century, firmly held one end.

He found an able ally in Rinku Singh as the two stitched an unbroken 137-run stand and rallied the innings.

Nath's knock was laced with 16 fours and two sixes, while Rinku hit seven boundaries. UP were 189/4 at tea in 54 overs.

Nath, who continued playing his shots, stepped out and drove offie Shashank Attarde for his 14th four to reach 99 and then played a late cut for another boundary to reach the three figure mark. This was his sixth first-class hundred.

Rinku Singh played perfect second fiddle to Nath.

At the fag end of the day, Mumbai took the new ball but Nath and Rinku ensured there was no further damage.

Both Mumbai and UP players sported black armbands in memory of former India all-rounder Bapu Nadkarni, who died on Friday.

Brief Scores: Uttar Pradesh 281/4 (Aksh Deep Nath 115 not out,Rinku Singh 71 not out; Royston Dias 2-48, Akash Parkar 2-67) vs Mumbai.

At Chennai: Railways 76 all out in 39.1 overs (Saurabh Singh 22; R Ashwin 4/26, M Siddharth 4/32) vs Tamil Nadu 236 for 4 in 53 overs (Abhinav Mukund 100, Dinesh Karthik 57 batting, L Suryapprakash (50) TN lead by 160 runs.

At Indore: Saurashtra 295/8 (Sheldon Jackson 143 not out; Cheteshwar Pujara 47; Gourav Yadav 4-84).

At Dharamshala: Himachal Pradesh 314/5 (A P Vashisht 86; P S Chopra 56; Swapnil Singh 2-42) vs Baroda.