On day two of the Ranji Trophy Group A match here on Wednesday, Tamil Nadu had just one plan — bat on and on. And it did just that to put itself in a position from where it can control the proceedings.
Leading the way was Abhinav Mukund with a well-compiled 140 before falling in the 99th over. When Tamil Nadu ended the day at 360 for seven, it had a healthy lead of 178 runs.
Abhinav was well supported by twins B. Aparjith and B. Indrajith, both hitting half-centuries.
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The score was built around the bulwark of a determined knock from the captain, his second three-figure mark this season.
The foundation, however, was laid during a watchful morning session that produced just 58 runs in 23 overs. In fact, Abhinav’s first scoring shot of the day, a fierce cut off Ali Murtuza off the 43rd ball he faced. He followed it up with a cover drive to reach his half-century.
At the other end, Aparajith complemented his captain, lofting Piyush Chawla over mid-wicket for a six.
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That the visitors’ failure to capitalise on a helpful wicket also helped the hosts. Chawla, who started the day’s proceedings, bowled too short, and was not able to maintain the pressure.
Easy singles were on offer, and the batsmen gladly accepted them. The only bowler to keep things tight was Murtuza, who finished the day with four wickets.
Useful partnershipThe third-wicket partnership of 127 runs took Tamil Nadu close to Uttar Pradesh’s first innings score.
Abhinav was confident defending, driving or cutting and showed no chinks during his innings.
He got to his hundred with a firm push towards the off-side. That he took 205 balls and 265 minutes to get to the mark speaks volumes about his concentration.
Once Tamil Nadu took the lead in the 69th over, it raised the tempo, adding almost 100 runs in 27 overs, going in to tea at 291 for five.
In between it lost the wickets of Dinesh Karthick and R. Sathish, going for runs.
But Indrajith joined his skipper to keep things under control. Their sixth-wicket partnership, which produced 69 runs, ended when Abhinav was snapped up at short-leg by Umang Sharma off Murtaza.
With a handy lead, the host is in with a realistic chance of pushing for an outright win.
The scores:
Uttar Pradesh — 1st innings: 182.
Tamil Nadu — 1st innings: U. Sushil c Alam b Piyush 4, Abhinav Mukund c Umang Sharma b Murtuza 140, Vijay Shankar st. Dwivedi b Alam 17, B. Aparajith c Tanmay b Himanshu 59, Dinesh Karthick c Chawla b Murtuza 19, R. Sathish c Alam b Murtuza 11, B. Indrajith (batting) 77, S. Suresh Kumar c Mukul Dagar b Murtuza 3, Malolan Rangarajan (batting) 16; Extras (nb-6, b-6, lb-2): 14; Total (for seven wkts. in 122 overs): 360.
Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-52, 3-179, 4-214, 5-224, 6-303, 7-307.
Uttar Pradesh bowling: R.P. Singh 8.5-3-9-0, Amit Mishra 12.1-3-14-0, Piyush Chawla 32-3-131-1, Ali Murtuza 42-5-117-4, Arish Alam 1-0-1-1, Himanshu Asnora 20-1-65-1, Umang Sharma 6-0-15-0.