UP off to a poor start in Hazare Trophy

Former joint winners Uttar Pradesh got off to shaky start in their Vijay Hazare Trophy campaign, losing to Tamil Nadu by seven wickets in Cuttack on Sunday.

Playing without regular captain Suresh Raina, who was reportedly busy in some family issue, Uttar Pradesh batsmen played pathetically, getting out for 159 in 36 overs while batting first after winning the toss, at DRIEMS Ground.

In reply Tamil Nadu despite losing two quick wickets romped home in 27.5 overs. Praveen Kumar had opener N Jagadeesan (10) in the sixth over, whereas Ankit Rajpoot accounted for fellow opener Kaushik Gandhi (15).

Baba Aparajith (13) too was removed soon by Praveen Kumar, but thereafter Dinesh Karthik and Vijay Shanker held the innings together till the end. Karthik’s unbeaten 56 came off 63 balls with the help of eight fours, whereas Shanker struck 58 in 48-ball with the help of seven hits to the fence.

Out of five bowlers UP used in the opening match, pacer Israr Azim conceded 43 runs in five overs.

Earlier, barring youngsters Samarth Singh (22), Sarfaraz Khan (31) and Rinku Singh (37), no other UP batsmen could show any resistance before the TN bowlers. Five of their batsmen couldn’t even cross the double figure mark.

Aswin Crist, M Mohammed and Rahil Shah shared six wickets between them, whereas Vijay

PLAYING WITHOUT REGULAR CAPTAIN SURESH RAINA, WHO WAS REPORTEDLY BUSY IN SOME FAMILY ISSUE, UTTAR PRADESH BATSMEN PLAYED PATHETICALLY, GETTING OUT FOR 159 IN 36 OVERS WHILE BATTING FIRST AFTER WINNING THE TOSS, AT DRIEMS GROUND

Shankar and B Aparajith took a wicket each.

Now, UP play their next match against Tripura on Tuesday.