Saurabh excels with 6/90, but UP batsmen struggle

LUCKNOW:For the second successive time this season, former champions Uttar Pradesh find going tough in the Ranji Trophy. Even with two wins in the first two matches, Akshdeep Nathled side conceded first innings lead against Rajasthan on home turf last week.

It was almost a glimpse of that failure on Thursday, when after letting Jammu and Kashmir batsmen dictate terms in their Elite Group C encounter, top order of Uttar Pradesh batting too succumbed to J&K pacer Mohammed Mudhasir, who let UP tottering at 3/31 in 14 overs.

The 30-year-old Mohammed ripped through UP’s batting line-up with his pace and swing. First he had opener Mohammad Saif (6) in the seventh over, forcing the batsman to offer a straight catch to Ina Chauhan.

The scoreboard didn’t change even then and after 23 dot balls Mudhasir uprooted the middle stump of Dhruv Pratap Singh (0) in the 11th over, before snapping the wicket of Priyam Garg (4) in the 13th over. Fellow opener Madhav Kaushik (11, 45b) and Akshdeep Nath (1) were at the crease at draw of stumps.

Earlier, it looked a good toss to win for Uttar Pradesh initially as they chose to field first at the Govt Gandhi Memorial Science College Ground in Jammu as they had three host batsmen at just 52 in the 21st over. But a 102run fourth wicket partnership between Parvez Rasool and Ian Chauhan (49, 114b, 8x4) helped the side recover well.

Rasool, who made 87 in 92 balls with the help of 13 fours and a six was bowled by left-arm orthodox spinner Saurabh Kumar, who finished with 6/90, his first five-wicket haul this season. Thereafter, wickets kept falling like nine pins from one end but it was India discard Irfan Pathan, who remained a tough nut to crack as the left-hander smashed 76-ball 91, which contained 10 boundaries and five sixes, helping J*K posting a challenging 290 in 71.4 overs in their first innings.

Other than Saurabh, aging seamer Imtiaz Ahmed and Yash Dayal took two wickets each. Uttar Pradesh still need 260 runs to take the first innings lead.

UP TAKE LEAD

Uttar Pradesh took first innings lead against Mumbai as their four-day Under-19 Cooch Behar Trophy match in Mumbai ended in a tame draw on Thursday. UP garnered three points from the draw and took its tally to 10, pushing Mumbai (10 pts) to the next spot.

With just 17 runs lead on the final day of the tie on Thursday while following-in, Mumbai could lose only two wickets throughout the day, scoring 450/8 in 172 overs in the second innings. Mumbai had scored 155 in the first innings, and in reply Uttar Pradesh scored 409, managing 254-run first innings lead.

Overnight batsman Manal Kawle struck an unbeaten 125 in 419 balls with the help of 15 hits to the fence, whereas Arjun Tendulkar before being caught and bowled by Akshay Sain scored 91 with 10 fours and two sixes.

THRILLING WIN

Uttar Pradesh on Thursday notched up a thrilling seven-run win over Madhya Pradesh in the Senior Women’s One-Day League, at the Nimpur Ground in Cuttack.

After scoring 133/8 in 50 overs while batting first after winning the toss, Uttar Pradesh eves, especially Anjali Singh (3/4) and Aditi (2/30), got the rivals out for 126 in 49.4 overs. Kashma, Rashi Kanojiya and Tanu Kala shared three wickets between them.