MUMBAI: When Nitish Rana arrived at the crease on Saturday at the Wankhede Stadium, Uttar Pradesh, after skittling out Mumbai for 198 on Day One of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group B league match, were 136 for four, which became even more precarious at 152 for five when their well-set opener Samarth Singh (63, 107b, 8x4) fell to Shivam Dube.
Leading by example and taking the game by the scruff of the neck on a pitch with a green tinge on it, the Uttar Pradesh captain, who led the Kolkata Knight Riders in the last IPL, launched a counter-attack, dancing down the track and then slog sweeping Shams Mulani for back-to-back sixes to the cow corner. Missing Ajinkya Rahane, who suffered a Grade 1 hamstring tear on Day One while running between the wickets, Mumbai squandered a major chance to net Rana on 0 when the ball went between Royston Dias's hands at deep mid-wicket, and paid a huge price for the lapse.
