Skipper Mohammad Kaif struck a determined 91 as Uttar Pradesh opened
up a vital first innings lead over Bengal on the second day of their Ranji
Trophy Elite Group B outing here today.
At stumps, the visitors were 437 for seven with Praveen Kumar (50) and
Amir Khan (30) unbeaten in the middle at the Eden Gardens.
UP's innings during the day was woven around two solid partnerships
with Kaif (272m,170b, 13x4, 1x6) being the common factor.
The Team India discard put on 92 runs for the fifth wicket with Ravikant
Shukla (31) and 86 for the sixth wicket alongside Piyush Chawla (53)
to bolster the tourists' lead to an emphatic 288 runs.
Thanks to his heroic, the first challenge before Bengal, once
they return to the crease, would now be to save innings defeat.
Resuming at 128 for two, UP surpassed the Bengal total early
in the morning before losing overnight unbeaten bat Suresh Raina (63;
138m, 87b, 10x4) in the day's seventh over when the youngster tried to pull
Shib Shankar Paul and finished in the hands of Kamal Hassan Mondal at mid-wicket.
Pal then devoured Praveen Gupta (35) which brought together
Kaif and Ravikant Shukla who carried UP to 235 for four at lunch and Kaif reached
his half-century in 151 balls.
Paul, who finished with five for 99, brought the partnership
to an end by removing Shukla but Chawla joined Kaif to make life even more difficult
for the hosts.
Chawla finally departed after Bengal skipper Laxmi Ratan Shukla
took the second new ball and the batsman fended to an away going ball from Sourav
Sarkar to be caught at gully.
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