Rinku Singh and Madhav Kaushik made hundreds on the first day, and UP beat Bihar by an innings and 267 in Rajgir

Uttar Pradesh needed only three days to open their Ranji Trophy season with a win. They beat Bihar by an innings and 267 runs in Rajgir on Tuesday, bowling them out twice on the third day after Madhav Kaushik and Rinku Singh had both made hundreds.

Two hundreds on the first day

Bihar won the toss and chose to field at the Rajgir International Cricket Stadium. It did not work out. Kaushik and Rinku put on more than 200 for the fourth wicket, and UP closed the first day on 287 for 3, with Kaushik on 124 and Rinku on 109.

Rinku added only three more on the second day and was out for 112 off 168 balls. Kaushik batted on to 150 from 326 balls, and half-centuries from Aaradhya Yadav (84) and Zeeshan Ansari took UP to 540 all out in 153.1 overs.

Eighteen wickets on Tuesday

Bihar were 44 for 2 at stumps on the second day, and they lost their other 18 wickets on Tuesday. Kartik Yadav took 4 for 26 and Karan Sharma 4 for 28 as Bihar were bowled out for 141, 399 behind, and UP enforced the follow-on.

The second innings lasted 36.4 overs. Ansari, who had already made a half-century with the bat, took 4 for 40, and Karan Sharma’s 3 for 17 gave him seven wickets in the match. Mangal Mahrour was Bihar’s top scorer both times, with 25 and 27, which tells you most of what you need to know about their batting.

Not in the T20I squad

Rinku is not in India’s 16-man squad for the five T20Is in New Zealand, which start in Christchurch on 22 October. His first-class record is the older part of his CV. He was UP’s leading run-scorer in the 2018-19 Ranji Trophy, with 953 runs. A 168-ball 112 in Rajgir suggests the red-ball game has not left him.

UP were one of three teams to win by an innings on Tuesday, along with Mumbai and Hyderabad. They host Goa at Green Park in Kanpur in the second round, starting on Sunday, 18 October.

More from the Ranji Trophy and Indian cricket