Ranji trophy: After a bad start, UP scores 268 for 7 in 90 overs

Kanpur: Experienced Akshadeep Nath, Rinku Singh and Dhruv Chand Jurel rescued Uttar Pradesh after a bad start and placed it in a comfortable position as the team scored 268 for 7 in 90 overs against Vidarbha on the opening day of their four-day Ranji Trophy match on Thursday.
Deciding to bat first at Gurugram cricket stadium UP lost its top four batsmen for mere 45 runs.Madhav Kaushik (13), Priyam Garg (5), and captain Karan Sharma ( 2) lost their wickets cheaply. Opener Samarth Singh offered resistance and he scored 32 runs consisting of 7 hits to the fence in 59 balls before falling prey to AA Sarvate .
Akshadeep Nath stole the show of the first day as he played a sheet anchor role and faced as many as 205 balls to score his 91 runs hitting 13 boundaries and a six. He was supported by Rinku Singh and the two executed 112 runs partnership which pulled their team from doll drums. Their union broke when Rinku Singh was stumped by AV Wadkar of AA Sarvate, Rinku scored 65 runs in 99 balls and plundered 10 boundaries and two sixes.
Wicket keeper Dhruv Chand Jurel joined Akshadeep Nath and two forced Vidarbha bowlers to work hard for their wicket. It was the bad luck of Akshadeep Nath that he missed his century by 9 runs.He and Jurel in their union added 85 runs for the sixth wicket which strengthened the UP’s innings. Jurel batted with confidence and played the rival bowlers carefully.
At close he was batting on 52 runs scored in 121 balls and sent the ball nine times to the fence. Yash Dayal was at the other end with him and he had scored just one run in 3 balls.
For Vidarbha Umesh Yadav , s Thakare and AA Sarvate all took two wickets each, and Umesh Yadav was economical.He conceded 37 runs for his two wickets.
Brief score: UP first innings- 7 for 268 ( Madhav Kaushik 13, Samarth Singh 32, AkshDeep Nath 91, Rinku Singh 65, Dhruv Chand Jurel 52 no, Umesh Yadav 2 for 37, A S Thakare 2 for 42, AA Sarvate 2 for 76)