Uttar Pradesh captain Nitish Rana made a brilliant century during the Ranji Trophy match against Mumbai played at the Wankhede Stadium. Rana played 106 innings off 120 balls and hit a total of 12 fours and 5 sixes during his stay at the crease. UP posted a total of 324 runs in their first innings in reply to Mumbai’s 198 runs.
Nitish Rana completed his century in 105 balls and produced a brilliant display of attacking cricket in the Ranji Trophy. Rana scored his century in the second ball of 69 and showed a brilliant celebration. Rana took off his helmet and raised his bat towards the locker room where his teammates applauded him.
This century celebration could be an indirect jibe at Delhi batsman Yash Dhull, who was named Delhi captain. Soon after Dhull was named Delhi captain replacing Nitish Rana, the left-handed batsman left the team and joined Uttar Pradesh.
Nitish Rana also removed his inner gloves and was seen dusting off his bat with them. Apart from Rana, opener Samarth Singh played 63 innings off 107 balls and hit a total of 8 fours during his stay at the crease.
Watch: Nitish Rana dusts off his bat after a century
Century for @NitishRana_27 👏💯
He takes it with only 105 balls 🔥
What a brilliant counterattack so far!@IDFCFIRSTBank | #RanjiTrophy
Follow the game ▶️ pic.twitter.com/LJyML5ohkE
– BCCI National (@BCCIdomestic) January 27, 2024
Nitish Rana moved from Delhi to Uttar Pradesh ahead of the 2023-24 Ranji Trophy. Rana has played a total of 46 matches in his first-class career and has scored 2587 runs at an average of 39.80. He has slammed a total of 6 centuries and 11 half-centuries. Rana’s highest score has been 174 runs.
After electing to field first in Mumbai, the hosts finished with 198 runs in which Shams Mulani top-scored with 57 runs while Prasad Pawar was the second highest run-scorer of the innings. Captain Ajinkya Rahane and many other big names failed to show any impact and were dismissed cheaply by the Uttar Pradesh bowlers.
Ankit Rajpoot and Aqib Khan picked up 3 wickets each while Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shivam Sharma also took 2 wickets each.
Aryan Juyal and Samarth Singh gave Uttar Pradesh a good start as the duo added 45 runs for the first wicket. Juyal was dismissed for 27 runs off 42 balls. After Nitish Rana’s century and Juyal’s half-century, Akshdeep Nath played 41 innings off 85 balls, helping Uttar Pradesh post a decent score of 324 runs in their first innings.
Royston Das and Shivam Dube got 3 wickets each for Mumbai, while Mohit Avasthi, Sylvester D Souza and Tanush Kotian got 1 wicket each. Mumbai finished Day 2 at 24/0, with Jay Bista and Bhupen Lalwani in the crease.
Mumbai are currently undefeated in Elite Group B and sit on first place with 3 wins from 3 games. On the other hand, Uttar Pradesh is in fourth place with three draws in 3 games. UP will want to win their first match of Ranji Trophy 2023-24 and also move up in the points.
Uttar Pradesh is in a good position to win the match against Mumbai as it is currently 102 runs behind. With three days left in the match, anything can happen, however, UP is more likely to win the match.