Lucknow: Despite a fine, unbeaten century by skipper Aryan Juyal and a belligerent half-century by Rinku Singh, Uttar Pradesh was still a long way from taking the crucial first-innings lead in the Elite Group C Ranji Trophy match against Haryana at the Sports Galaxy ground in Lucknow on Sunday. The home side was 267/6 at the close of the penultimate day, still trailing by 186 runs. UP has some hope as Juyal is still at the crease unbeaten on 118.
Earlier, Haryana added 22 more runs to their overnight score of 431/9 when Shivam Sharma cleaned up Yuzvender Chahal (48), denying the former Indian leggie his maiden first-class half-century. Aman Kumar remained unbeaten on 14, and his 57-run stand off 138 balls with Chahal took the visitors to 453.
UP started the day on a disastrous note as its three top-order batsmen—Swastik Chikara, Priyam Garg, and Siddharth Yadav—fell in quick succession, adding just a mere few runs. Swastik Chikara (21) was caught at slip by Dheeru Singh off Aman Kumar in the seventh over.
Three overs later, Priyam Garg edged Harshal Patel’s delivery into the gloves of wicketkeeper Kapil Hooda. Harshal then trapped southpaw Siddharth Yadav in front of the wicket, leaving the hosts tottering at 3/43 in 12.5 overs.
After that, skipper Aryan Juyal and Rinku Singh came together to form a 162-run partnership for the fourth wicket, putting UP on the path to recovery. However, Rinku missed a well-deserved ton by just 11 runs, as he was caught by Harshit Rana off Jayant Yadav on a score of 89 runs.
Following Rinku’s departure, former skipper Nitish Rana (5) joined Juyal at the crease but could not stay long, as Aman Kumar trapped him in front of the wicket. Saurabh Kumar soon followed him to the pavilion. Shivam Sharma then joined the skipper, ensuring no further damage and adding 40 runs in the process.
Talking to TOI, skipper Aryan Juyal said, "I am happy with my performance, but Haryana have the upper hand. We lost important wickets early, but today Rinku Singh's presence gave me the momentum to fight for a good total."
"Rinku has a very positive approach, and his presence and experience help the team a lot,” he said.
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