Shivam rips through UP middle order

With just a day to go,UP have to tread cautiously to ensure the team a first-innings lead advantage as the match seems to be heading towards a draw. UP started comfortably with openers Faiz Ahmed (26) and Almas Shaukat (60) providing a 63-run foundation to the team. The next man in Sagar Yadav also batted responsibly and was at unbeaten 70 at stumps on the penultimate day. But besides them,no other batsman was able to make a reasonable contribution to the team total. A 21 over bowling spell by Shivam worried the UP batsmen. Shivam’s victims included Himanshu Asnora (8),M Saif (4),K Adeeb Khan (3) besides the wicket of MP skipper Kuldeep Yadav (4) who had excelled with the ball on Wednesday. Fellow off-spinner Vivek Singh also took two wickets.

Earlier,resuming at an overnight score of 210 for nine in 105 overs,the Madhya Pradesh innings folded at a total of 220 runs in 113.4 overs. The last wicket to fall was that of Ayush Maheshwari (1). His wicket was taken by spinner Abhishek Sharma.

Brief Scores: Madhya Pradesh 1st innings (overnight score 210 for 9): 220 all out in 113.4 overs ( Anuj Kumar Singh 85,Mukul Raghav 23,Anupam Toppo 20,Vivek Singh 17,Chandan Gill 45 not out; Kuldeep Yadav 5 for 77,Abhishek Sharma 4 for 85,Sachin Sharma 1 for 31); Uttar Pradesh 1st innings: 197 for seven in 86.5 overs ( Sagar Yadav 70 batting,Almas Shaukat 60,Faiz Ahmed 26; Shivam Tiwari 4 for 48,Vivek Singh 2 for 52,Anupam Toppo 1 for 27).