Leggie Thakur puts UP on verge of a big victory
LUCKNOW:Young spinner Nishant Brij Thakur and seamer Dhanjay Harendra Yadav bowled superbly to help former champions and hosts Uttar Pradesh tighten their noose around Cricket Association of Uttarakhand even on the penultimate day of their three-day Central Zone Vijay Merchant Trophy tie, at the Aligarh Muslim University Ground in Aligarh on Friday.
Leggie Thakur was right on target to take 5/44, whereas spinner Yadav bagged 3/28 to help the side take a solid 202-run first innings lead against the visitors. In the second innings too, Thakur chipped in with 2/11 to leave the rivals struggling at 77/6 in 40 overs thus helping the home side start smelling an outright win after forcing the visitors to follow-on.
Resuming at the overnight score of ¼, Cricket Association of Uttarakhand batsmen never got the going easy. Ayushman Singh had Vanshaj Chauhan (7) caught by Jeetu Kashyap in the fifth over of the day, and thereafter, it was Thakur, who started dictating terms from the other end, leaving CAU batsmen struggling against his spin.
He had the wickets of Yash Shukla (2), Lokesh Samant (11), Kartik Bhatt (6), Yuvaraj Singh (18) and Arush Girish (42, 82b, 5x4) as CAU collapsed for 133 in 52.4 overs in their first innings. Another leggie Yadav too made CAU batsmen lives difficult with his moving deliveries. Uttar Pradesh had scored 335 in the first innings.
Things didn’t change much in the second innings for the CAU batsmen as they kept struggling against a disciplined bowling attack before ending the day at 77/6 in 40 overs. Thakur accounted for key batsman Ashar Khan (17) and Vanshaj Chauhan (18), whereas part-time seamer Jeetu Jogendra Kashyap had 2/11. Ayushman Singh and Yash Chaudhary shared two wickets between them.
At close of stumps, Kartik Bhatt (8) and Arush Girish (4) were at the crease with Cricket Association of Uttarakhand still needing 126 runs to overpower the first innings lead with just four wickets in hand.
MATCH ABANDONED
Following a heavy rain, the league match of the Senior Women’s Twenty20 Trophy between Uttar Pradesh and Kerala at Raipur was abandoned on Friday. Kerala were 11/0 in 2.1 overs at the RDCA Ground when the rain stopped play.
With seven points in four matches, which included three wins, Uttar Pradesh lead the Group D with seven points. Now, they play their next match against Chandigarh on Sunday.