The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Gujarat puts U.P. on the backfoot

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Gujarat puts U.P. on the backfoot

J.R. Shridharan

VADODARA: Gujarat dominated proceedings on day one packing six Uttar Pradesh batsmen off for 242 in the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal at Motibagh here on Friday.

Two unwarranted run outs (Shivkanth Shukla and Mohd. Kaif) and two extravagant strokes by Suresh Raina (93, 172b, 244m, 12x4, 4x6) and Piyush Chawla allowed Gujarat gain the upper hand.

Shaky start

Put in, U.P. was off to a shaky start losing prolific scorer of the season Tanmay Srivastava in the sixth over.

Tanmay played a tentative stroke to an Ashraf Makda delivery resulting in wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel taking a regulation catch.

Raina, who joined Shukla, stood up to the attack and began playing his natural strokes. He greeted Gujarat’s trump card off-spinner Mohnish Parmar with an elegant flick followed by a straight six.

Raina was in his element, taking the wind out of the sails of leggie Timil Patel with two soaring sixes in his very first over. At lunch U.P. was 90 for one in 35 overs.

The post lunch session saw Shukla and Kaif committing hara-kiri. Shukla set off for a run but bowler Parmar ran to collect the ball from mid-on and hit the timber.

A few overs later, Kaif and Raina were involved in a terrible mix-up resulting in Kaif’s departure.

Raina’s mistake

Undeterred by the two quick blows Raina continued in his punishing mood and clouted the fourth six of the day and the bowler to suffer was leggie Timil.

Raina, at 93, keen to reach his hundred in style, played an ambitious shot at the stroke of tea and perished at deep mid-wicket.

Chawla played a couple of flashy strokes but the will to stay and see the team through the day was missing. A big heave at the second new ball off Makda proved detrimental as Amit Singh took a well-judged catch at fine-leg.

Parmar’s hard work paid off as he had Bhuvneshwer Kumar playing him on. Parvender Singh (53, 164m, 145b, 5x4, 2x6) and Amir Khan ensured no further loss of wicket.

R.P. Singh did not figure in the U.P. team owing to a shoulder injury.

The scores: Uttar Pradesh — 1st innings: Shivkanth Shukla (run out) 42, Tanmay Srivastava c Parthiv Patel b Makda 1, Suresh Raina c Sunny Patel b Timil Patel 93, Mohd. Kaif (run out) 2, Parvender Singh (batting) 53, Bhuvneshwer Kumar b Parmar 29, Piyush Chawla c Amit Singh b Makda 15, Amir Khan (batting) 0; Extras (w-2, lb-5): 7. Total (for six wkts in 91 overs): 242.

Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-108, 3-124, 4-160, 5-210, 6-238.

Gujarat bowling: Siddharth Trivedi 19-5-62-0, Ashraf Makda 14-7-21-2, Amit Singh 16-8-31-0, Mohnish Parmar 28-8-65-1, Timil Patel 14-2-58-1.

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