Wrist in the tale

After Sundayrsquos stunner at the Adelaide Oval where West Indies beat Australia to square the twomatch Sir Frank Worrell Trophy series the thriller bug travelled to Mumbai where the host team were pipped by Uttar Pradesh in their Elite Group B Ranji Trophy game at Wankhede Stadium on MondayUPrsquos twowicket win caused the 41time championsrsquo first Ranji loss of the season after outright wins over Bihar Andhra Pradesh and KeralaIn pursuit of a victory target of 195 UP opener Aryan Juyal 76 10x4 1x6 and No4 Karan Sharma 67 not out 5x4 2x6 who played with a wrist injury on his left hand gave UP their first outright win of the seasonAlso Read Pressure on Shubman Gill to score runs in second test against EnglandMumbai pacers Royston Dias 122 and Mohit Avasthi 120 began well sending back opener Samarth Singh 2 and onedrop Priyam Garg 4 by the fifth over However Juyal and Karan frustrated Mumbai by stitching together a 104run partnershipKotian claims fiveOffspinner Tanush Kotian 558 who was introduced as a sixth bowling option just before the lunch gave the hosts some hope by trapping a wellset Juyal leg before In his next over Kotian had UP captain and first innings centurion Nitish Rana 6 caught at first slip by Jay BistaUP found themselves in big trouble when Karan decided to retire due a painful wrist on 47 when his teamrsquos score was 1454 However he returned after a 21minute break when UP lost their seventh batsman in the form of Bhuvneshwar Kumar 5Righthanded batsman Karan who managed just 95 runs in his last 12 innings not only scored a halfcentury but remained unbeaten till his partner Aaqib Khan 3 not out scored the winning runldquoNitish bhai said I have to bat When one wicket fell he asked me if I could bat I told him I was experiencing extreme pain I took a painkilling injection but then one more wicket fell So I said Irsquoll go Around 10 minutes later we went in for tea and I could rest It was just about batting for those 10 minutes to finish the gamerdquo Karan told reporters on MondayTense time for UPUP lost three wickets and still needed 41 runs to win when Karan was in the dressing roomHe went out and smashed a couple of sixes off Kotian despite his aching wrist ldquoI could barely play I was only able to defend then because if the top hand is not moving how will the bottom hand come into play I couldnrsquot grip the bat properly So I thought Irsquoll keep defending Aksh Akshdeep Nath said wersquoll score the runs somehow I thought Irsquod play the anchor role and rely on my defence When Aksh got out for 28 I mustered up courage and told myself I have to do it somehow I held the bat very tight I had to take that chance Luckily there was an offspinner Kotian bowling and I thought Irsquoll swing no matter whatrdquo Karan explainedrdquoMeanwhile Mumbai skipper Ajinkya Rahane said ldquoYou hardly get to see such games in the Ranji Trophy Credit to both teams for playing in the right spirit I am very proud of my boys especially being behind the game from Day One and fighting back with just two wickets away from winning the game Irsquom really happy with the way everyone playedrdquoBrief scoresMumbai 198 and 320 S Dube 117 S Mulani 63 M Avasthi 49 A Khan 463 lost to UP 324 and 1958 in 695 overs A Juyal 76 K Sharma 67 T Kotian 558 by 2 wickets