Rinku Singh Sizzles With Career-Best 176, Sends Strong Message To Team India Selectors

Known for his ability to pull off last-over miracles in T20s, the swashbuckling Rinku Singh on Wednesday showed his wares in the long-form game with a career-best 176 to help Uttar Pradesh secure the vital first-innings lead against Tamil Nadu in their Ranji Trophy game. The Group A clash ended in a draw on the fourth and final day with visiting UP receiving three points after amassing 460 all out in response to Tamil Nadu's first-innings total of 455. The home team got one point from the game. That UP managed to take a slender five-run lead was largely due to Rinku's knock and some useful contributions from the lower-order batters, including Shivam Mavi's 54.

Rinku smashed 17 fours and six sixes during his stay in the middle. He was batting on 98 at stumps on the third evening and faced a total of 247 balls across two days.

At a time when the Indian team is struggling to play spin in Test matches at home, Rinku's knock assumes significance as it offers the national selectors an option they can explore going forward.

Vidarbha complete big win after Nalkande's 5/12

In the group's other big match, former champions Vidarbha completed a facile 144-run win over Baroda after pacer Darshan Nalkande's career-best figures of 5/12 in Nagpur.

Vidarbha grabbed full six points from the outright win to consolidate their numero uno position in the standings.

The result was a forgone conclusion after Vidarbha left visiting Baroda in all sorts of trouble at 73 for five at stumps on the third evening with the 27-year-old Nalkande doing the bulk of damage with four top-order wickets.

Set a target of 276, Baroda were trailing Vidarbha by 203 runs when the stumps were drawn on the third day, and the home team needed just over 18 overs to pick the remaining five wickets and register their third win of the season in five matches.

Baroda folded for 131 in 50.4 overs, after having been bowled out for 166 in their first innings.

Nalkande, who has been a part of IPL teams such as Punjab Kings and Gujarat Titans, picked up his maiden five-wicket haul in first-class cricket seven years after making his debut.

There were two wickets apiece for medium pacer Nachiket Bhute (2/47) and left-arm spinner Parth Rekhade (2/28), both complementing Nalkande as he went about dismantling the Baroda batting.

Sukirt Pandey top-scored for Baroda with 37, while skipper Atit Sheth (29) and Raj Limbani (21) gout out after offering resistance for a brief while on a challenging fourth day surface at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium.

While the bowlers delivered what was expected of them, a lot of credit must go to Yash Rathod for setting up Vidarbha's win with a match-turning 91 off 142 balls on the third day.

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