UP post 279 for six against Tamil Nadu

Chennai: Thanks to dropped chances by hosts Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh managed to post 279 for six on the opening day of their four-day Group B Ranji Trophy match here today.

Electing to bat, opener Tanmay Srivastava survived two chances early on before being finally caught by Suresh Kumar off Aushik Srinivas for 31. Abhinav Mukund was the fielder on both occasions -- at at short leg and silly point. Srivatsava`s partner, Mukul Dagar, was caught by Baba Aparajith off Malolan Rangarajan. Uttar Pradesh were 57 for two before Mohammad Kaif and Umang Sharma brought about some stability to their innings. Kaif and Sharma`s 66-run partnership ended when the latter was superbly caught by Aparajith off Rangarajan. The pair put on the runs 21.1 overs, with Sharma contributing 36. Parvinder Singh did not stay long enough as he was caught by Prasanna off Aparajith for 16. Kaif also made his exit while going for a big hit. His innings of 68 contained three fours and two sixes. Kaif, who had faced 184 balls, was caught at mid on by Yo Mahesh off Rangarajan. The hosts` fielding was shabby, and that had played its part in their poor performances this season. Ekalavya Dwivedi was dropped, when on 25, by Prasasnna at short leg. However, Dwivedi holed out to Aparajith off Murali Vijay`s bowling for 27. At close Prashant Gupta (46 off 86 balls) and Ali Murtaza (49 off 63 balls) were at the crease. PTI