LUCKNOW, Nov. 19 -- Team India's T20 specialist batter Rinku Singh seems to have grown as a fighter even in the red ball cricket, especially this domestic season. In his first and only match in the Ranji Trophy this season against Andhra last month in Kanpur, Singh's fighting spirit helped former champions Uttar Pradesh manage a surprising first innings lead even while chasing 471 runs. Rinku's unbeaten 165 which came off 273 balls with the help of 13 boundaries and two sixes helped Uttar Pradesh manage to cross the 470-run target with two wickets in hand even after struggling at 178/5. There was no match for Rinku then as he left for Australia to play the five-match T20Is series for Team India in Australia. Rinku is back in a big way at least for now. On Tuesday, he smashed an unbeaten 98 to keep Uttar Pradesh's hope alive at least for the first innings lead and vital three points against hosts Tamil Nadu on the penultimate day of their four-day Elite Group A encounter in Coimbatore. With scoreboard reading 339/6 after a bad light stopped play, Uttar Pradesh will still be needing 117 runs to surpass Tamil Nadu's first innings total of 455 with four wickets in hand. There was nothing wrong for Uttar Pradesh when they resumed at the overnight score of 87/1, at the Sri Ramakrishna College of Arts and Science Ground with both Abhishek Goswami and keeper-batter Aryan Juyal playing with caution. Goswami began the day with a powerful cover drive for boundary off pacer Sandeep Warrier in the very first over of the day. But as the game progressed, Tamil Nadu's left-arm spinner P Vidyut began mesmerising Uttar Pradesh batters with his quick ones on a dry surface. He first trapped the in-form Goswami leg before wicket before uprooting the off-stump of Juyal with a quick one. He also took a diving return catch of skipper Karan Sharma, who went to play a reckless shot. Goswami scored 172-ball 79 with the help of 11 boundaries and a six, whereas Juyal made 43 in 117 balls with the help of three hits to the fence. Sharma made just 11 in 35 balls with one boundary. Next man Aaradhya Yadav too didn't last long, edging a regulation catch to keeper Narayan Jagadeesan off pacer Saravana Kumar only after making four runs before the tea time. But thereafter, Tamil Nadu bowlers had to wait long for the next wicket as Rinku along with Team India discard bowling all-rounder Shivam Mavi added 104 runs for the fifth wicket. While Rinku played a waiting game to score his unbeaten 157-ball 98, which contained nine boundaries and three sixes, Mavi was a bit attacking with his shots, hitting 62-ball 54 with the help of seven boundaries and a six. He too offered a simple catch to Narayan Jagadeesan off pacer Saravana Kumar in the 96th over. With scoreboard reading 295/6, things looked difficult for Uttar Pradesh again, but Rinku along with Shivam Sharma held his nerves under control and did allow Tamil Nadu bowlers to do any further damage to the side as a bad light stopped play then. Sharma also remained unbeaten on 18, which came off 58 balls with the hits to the fence....