Uttar Pradesh earn 3 points in drawn Ranji match against Madhya Pradesh

Kanpur: Uttar Pradesh walked away with three points owing to their first innings lead in a Group B Ranji Trophy match against Madhya Pradesh that ended in a draw on the fourth and final day, here on Wednesday.

Chasing a victory target of 314 runs, Madhya Pradesh were 140 for seven in their second innings at the close of play with Salman Baig (31 not out) and Anurag Singh (11 not out) in the middle. Resuming at 78 for three, Uttar Pradesh had declared their second innings at 178 for five with India international Suresh Raina hitting a classy 134-ball 84, laced with 11 fours, while `old war horse` Mohammad Kaif just felling one run short of his half-century at 49. For Madhya Pradesh, medium pacers Ishwar Pandey and Puneet Datey acoounted for two wickets each. In their second essay, Madhya Pradesh got off to a poor start in their run-chase as they kept on losing wickets at regular intervals. Leg-spinner Amit Mishra and medium pacer Ankit Rajpoot sent back both the openers Zafar Ali (12) and Jalaj Saxena (20) inside the 11th over with scoreboard at 36. Imtiaz Ahmed soon made it 36 for three when he had wicketkeeper Naman Ojha (3) trapped leg before. Mohnish Mishra (18), skipper Devendra Bundela (11), Anand Bais (16) and Shubham Sharma (5) all found the going tough against the pace-spin duo of Mishra and Imtiaz as they were left reeling at 106 for seven. Madhya Pradesh stared at a humiliating defeat but Baig and Singh waged a grim battle to rescue the side from a precarious situation. For Uttar Pradesh, Mishra was the most successful bowler with figures of three for 17 while Imtiaz picked up two wickets. Brief scores: Uttar Pradesh 250 & 178/5 decl (Suresh Raina 84, Mohammad Kaif 49; Ishwar Pandey 2/32). Madhya Pradesh: 115 & 140/7 in 64 overs (Salman Baig 31 not out; Amit Mishra 3/17). Points: Uttar Pradesh 3, Madhya Pradesh 1.