Ranji Trophy: Praveen, Saurabh give UP upper hand against Gujarat

Valsad: Praveen Kumar (5/16) and Saurabh Kumar (5/37) shared 10 wickets between them to bundle out Gajarat for 100 and give Uttar Pradesh 173-run first innings lead on the second day of their Ranji Trophy Group B cricket match here. 

At the close of play, UP were 163 for seven in their second innings, with an overall lead of 336 runs and three wickets remaining. Earlier, resuming at 272 for nine in their first innings, UP could add just one more run to their overnight score to finish at 273. 

In reply, Gujarat kept losing wickets at regular interval even as Praveen and Saurabh wrecked havoc. Only three home team batsmen could reach the double digit mark as they fell for a meagre 100 in 31.4 overs. The visitors also did not have an ideal start to their second innings as both the openers Tanmay Srivastava (1) and Almas Shaukat (8) got out cheaply. 

But one-down batsman Umang Sharma (66) hit a half-century to steady the boat. At stumps, Piyush Chawla was unbeaten on 17 and Praveen Kumar was batting on five. For Gujarat, Axar Patel was the pick of the wickets with figures of four for 54. 

Brief scores: 

Uttar Pradesh: 273 & 163 for 7 (Umang Sharma 66, Axar Patel 4/54). 

Gujarat: 100 all out (Parthiv Patel 39; Praveen Kumar 5/16, Saurabh Kumar 5/37).