Rinku Singh made 118 of UP’s 202 from 33 for 3, and Goa fell 68 short in Kanpur
Uttar Pradesh’s last wicket added 65 on the first day, and Kartik Yadav’s 5 for 37 bowled Goa out for 167 chasing 236.
Oct 20, 2026
Rinku Singh walked out at No. 5 in Kanpur with Uttar Pradesh on 33 for 3. When the innings ended at 202, he was still there on 118 not out, and nobody else in the side had passed 45. On Tuesday that lone hand turned out to be the difference, as UP beat Goa by 68 runs at Green Park for their second win in two Ranji Trophy games this season.
Sixty-five for the last wicket
UP chose to bat and lost their way quickly. Madhav Kaushik made 45 and put on 57 with Rinku for the fourth wicket. Once he went, the wickets kept falling at the other end, and UP were 137 for 9. No. 11 Vansh Chaudhary then blocked out 26 balls for his 4 while the last wicket added 65, three fewer than UP’s eventual winning margin. Rinku’s 118 came off 186 balls with 11 fours and two sixes.
It was his second hundred in as many matches. He made 112 against Bihar in the opening round, sharing a stand of more than 200 with Kaushik as UP won by an innings and 267 runs in Rajgir. His last nine first-class innings include 165 not out, 176, that 112 and now 118 not out, and his career average is above 60.
Zeeshan Ansari and Kartik Yadav finish it
The 202 looked thin until Goa batted. Leg-spinner Zeeshan Ansari took 5 for 45 and Goa were bowled out for 164, 38 behind. Shivendra Bhujbal’s 44 was the top score.
Goa had their own five-wicket bowler, twice. Yash Kasvankar took 5 for 86 in the first innings and 5 for 69 in the second, ten wickets in a losing cause. His second spell kept UP to 197, but captain Aryan Juyal’s 74 off 143 balls and a quick 36 off 14 at the end set Goa 236 to win. Rinku added 24.
Suyash Prabhudessai gave the chase a chance with 72 off 106 balls. Nobody stayed with him. Kartik Yadav took 5 for 37, and Goa were all out for 167 in 46 overs, with a day of the match left unused.
The India question
Rinku was in India’s T20 World Cup-winning squad in March. He is not in the 16 picked for the five T20Is in New Zealand that start on Thursday, so he is spending October in whites instead. On this evidence the selectors have a first-class batter they keep forgetting about. Two rounds in, UP have two wins and he has two hundreds.