Ranji Trophy: Uday, Mandeep fifties give Punjab control on Day 3

Mandeep and Kaul shared a 124-run third-wicket partnership.

Kanpur: Contrasting fifties by Uday Kaul and Mandeep Singh helped Punjab end day three on 244 for six to gain a massive second-innings lead against Uttar Pradesh in the Group B Ranji Trophy cricket league match here today.

After bundling out UP for 226 in response to their first innings score of 272 at Green Park, the Harbhajan Singh-led Punjab continued to dictate terms and stretch the second-innings lead to 290.

The visitors lost a couple of early wickets, but the 124-run third-wicket partnership between Uday (89 not out) and Mandeep (84) raised trouble for the Suresh Raina-led side.

If Day has stayed patient in his 185-ball stay so far, Mandeep looked devastating during his 101-ball knock that was laced with 12 fours and a six.

Though Mandeep's wicket started a mini-collapse for the visitors even though star batsman Yuvraj Singh struck a gritty 24, but the Harbajan Singh-led side had already got enough runs of the lead in its bag.

Praveen Kumar and Ankit Rajpoot have picked two wickets each.

Earlier starting the day on 208 for eight, the UP innings folded early with Umang Sharma remaining the top-scorer with 49 runs.

Siddharth Kaul bagged four wickets while Harbhajan Singh picked three.

Brief Scores:

Punjab 1st Innings 272 and 244/6 in 73 overs (Uday Kaul 89 not out, Mandeep Singh 84; Praveen Kumar 2-59, Ankit Rajpoot 2-52)

Uttar Pradesh 1st innings 226 all out in 77.4 overs (Umang Sharma 49; Siddharth Kaul 4-82).