Uttar Pradesh batter Rinku Singh scored his 11th first-class century on Day 1 of their Ranji Trophy 2026 match against Goa in Kanpur on Sunday.
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Uttar Pradesh batter Rinku Singh(Source: X)
Uttar Pradesh vs Goa Ranji Trophy 2026: Team India and Kolkata Knight Riders batter Rinku Singh created history in his second Ranji Trophy match of the 2026 season, slamming his 11th first-class in 55 matches on Day 1 of Uttar Pradesh’s clash against Goa at the historic Green Park in Kanpur on SundayRinku’s unbeaten 118 off 186 balls with 2 sixes and 11 fours rescued UP from sheer disaster as the home side had slipped to 137 for 9 at one stage.
Rinku, who was retained for Rs 13 crore by Shah Rukh Khan’s Kolkata Knight Riders ahead of IPL 2026, put on 65 runs for the last wicket with No11 batter Vansh Chaudhary, who scored only 4 in this partnershipRinku also surpassed Tanmay Shrivastava, India’s Under-19 World Cup 2008 winner, for most centuries by a UP batter in first-class cricket, having 11 tons now.
Rinku had scored a brilliant 112 in a win over Bihar in their Ranji Trophy 2026 opening match earlier this month and continued his golden run with the bat in first-class cricket after being dropped from India’s T20I squadHe came to the crease with Uttar Pradesh at 33 for 3 and took them to 202.
Two innings, two tons!
What a start to the Ranji Trophy for https://t.co/Y0mhd4hLAv
— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) October 18, 2026
In UP’s first innings, after they elected to bat first, Madhav Kaushik (45) produced the second-highest knock and the only other score above 20 for UP, as Goa’s Yash Kasvankar (5 for 86) took a five-wicket haul.
Rinku Singh has 9th highest first-class average
In 55 first-class games and 78 innings, Rinku Singh has managed 3,987 runs at an average of 61.33, with 11 centuries and 23 fiftiesHis best score is 176Prior to this match, his batting average in first-class cricket was 59.52.
The KKR batter’s average in first-class cricket is the ninth-highest of all time among batters having played a minimum of 50 inningsSir Donald Bradman (95.14 in 338 innings) has the best first-class batting average of all time, with the Australian legend way ahead of his distant second, Vijay Merchant of India (71.64 in 234 innings).
Ajay Sharma (67.46 in 166 innings), Shantanu Sugwekar (63.1 in 122 innings) and Sarfaraz Khan (62.92 in 95 innings) are other Indians in the top 10.
Rinku, who had been part of Suryakumar Yadav’s T20 World Cup 2026-winning squad earlier this year, has been in blazing form in first-class cricket, with scores of 118 not out, 112, 60 and 20, 176, 165 not out, 68, 89, 6, 26 and 10 in his last 10 first-class matchesThe UP southpaw has tallied 850 runs in 11 innings at an average of 94.44, including four centuries and three fifties, with a best score of 176.
At stumps on Day 1, Goa were 43 for no loss in the first innings with wicketkeeper Shivendra Bhujbal batting on 31 off 39 balls with six fours.
