Ranji Trophy: Marathon man Upendra Yadav

Uttar Pradesh's Upendra Yadav en route his unbeaten 203 against Mumbai at the Wankhede Stadium yesterday. Pic/Suresh Karkera

A day after the Mumbai Marathon, which excited sports lovers in the city, Uttar Pradesh's wicketkeeper-batsman Upendra Yadav decided to participate in his own five-plus hour marathon with an unbeaten 203 to help UP declare at 625-8 in their Ranji Trophy fixture against Mumbai on Monday.

It was Upendra's maiden first-class double century.

Mumbai were reeling at 20 for 2 at stumps on Day Two at Wankhede Stadium.

Mumbai resumed the day on a positive note when pacer Tushar Deshpande (2-135) disturbed Akshdeep Nath's furniture with no addition to his overnight score of 115 on the very second ball of the first over. The right-arm speedster struck again in his day's third over, sending back Rinku Singh for 84.

Henceforth, the day belonged to the visitors, thanks to the host team's poor and casual fielding efforts. No. 8 batsman Saurabh Kumar, who scored a 47-ball 44 and shared a 72-run seventh wicket stand with Upendra, was lucky on two occasions.

The left-hander was dropped by wicketkeeper Aditya Tare and then by Bhupen Lalwani at first slip when on nine and 15 respectively; pacer Akash Parkar and Deshpande being the unlucky bowlers. Finally, left-arm pacer Royston Dias (3-103) got rid of Saurabh on the pull as Sarfaraz Khan held an easy catch at short square leg.

Upendra, who occupied the crease from the day's very first over, batted throughout till his team reached 625. His two vital 100-plus partnerships - first with skipper Ankit Rajpoot (32) of 119 runs for the eighth wicket and then a 131-run stand for the ninth wicket with Yash Dayal (41 not out) frustrated the hosts. Upendra, who scored 100 against Baroda in his last game recently, hit 27 fours and three sixes on Monday. Rajpoot was obviously delighted. "Being a wicketkeeper, he reads the game very well. He spoke about what our plans should be and on how to handle particular bowlers. Initially, he tried to keep me away from Deshpande, but when I settled in, he allowed me to face him. He not only scored runs, he also gave me confidence," Rajpoot said.

Hosts Mumbai appeared bereft of a plan as the visiting batsmen capitalised on each opportunity. After fielding for almost two days, Mumbai lost two quick wickets. Opener Jay Bista (3) offered an easy catch to point fielder Almas Shaukat off pacer Rajpoot. The skipper also succeeded in dispatching nightwatchman Shashank Attarde (9) after peppering him with two bouncers.

Brief scores
UP 625-8d (U Yadav 203', A Nath 115, R Singh 84; R Dias 3-103) v Mumbai 20-2 (B Lalwani 6', H Tamore 1'; A Rajpoot 2-15)

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