Ranji Trophy 2018-19, Elite C, Round 4, Day 2: Rajasthan pacers boss UP after Robin Bist 96

Aniket Choudhary and Tanveer-ul-Haq shared all seven wickets to fall as Uttar Pradesh limped to 146/7.

Group C leaders Rajasthan’s hopes of making it four wins in a row in the 2018-19 Ranji Trophy took shape on day two of their round four match at Kanpur’s Green Park Stadium, where by stumps they owned a lead of 165 over hosts Uttar Pradesh.

Senior batsman Robin Bist missed a century by four runs on the second morning, but his battling innings helped the visitors get to 311 on a bowler-friendly surface. Losing four quick wickets to Aniket Choudhary set back Uttar Pradesh, and the massive scalp of Suresh Raina in a three-wicket spell from Tanveer-ul-Haq left them with half the side down inside 26 overs. At stumps, UP had limped to 146/7.

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From an overnight 221/5, Rajasthan added 90 runs on day two after losing three wickets before stumps on Wednesday. They lost Rajesh Bishnoi for the addition of one run and then Tanveer-ul-Haq for 0 to slip to 222/7 but Bist and Rahul Chahar added vital runs.

Having retired hurt on 68 yesterday, Bist returned to bat and played a steadying role before he was dismissed for the sixth time in the nineties when he was bowled on 96 by Shivam Chaudhary, the ninth wicket to fall. Chahar’s unbeaten 32 was also a handy innings. For UP, pace bowler Ankit Rajpoot added two wickets to claim 5/61.

Choudhary delivered four wickets when he won an lbw shout against Chaudhary (2) and then added Mohammad Saif (0), UP captain Akshdeep Nath (1) and Priyam Garg (29) in a new-ball burst of 8-1-28-4. Raina threatened to summon his reservoir of experience in getting to 33 but Tanveer-ul-Haq bowled him in the 26th over and then got Rinku Singh (34) and Saurabh Kumar (11) to have UP at 117/7.

Brief scores: Uttar Pradesh 146/7 trail Rajasthan (Robin Bist 96, Rajpoot 5/61) by 165 runs