UP go slow,but stay in control

Delhi started the day with an understandably defensive mindset,their tactics forced as much by the situation of the match as the paucity of resources. They lost the services of Mithun Manhas before the game,and Shikhar Dhawan on the first day’s play. To that list was added the name of Virat Kohli,who cut his ring finger while fielding and stayed off the field.

While Delhi were sloppy with their catching,the UP batsmen were happy to sit back,with Parvinder Singh and Bhuvaneshwar Kumar adding 87 to their overnight tally in the first session that lasted 32 overs. And much as that had to do with how Delhi bowled — from around the stumps,and into the rough with six fielders sprayed on the leg-side — the lack of urgency from the batsmen continued through the day.

Parvinder inched to his half-century,off 155 balls with four boundaries and a six,and then added just one more boundary to that as he took his time to bring up his third Ranji ton (second of the season).

Crawling century
Bhuvaneshwar’s approach at the other end wasn’t too different,as he crawled to his half-century off 140 balls with just three boundaries. The fifth-wicket partnership was worth 155 runs before Parvinder’s inside-out attempt off leg-spinner Abhishek Sharma was caught at long-off by Awana for 108,the batsman having hit his sixth boundary after getting his hundred.

Piyush Chawla batted with some purpose in an entertaining 21-ball 24 that included a six and two boundaries before being smartly caught at covers by Chopra off Sumit Narwal.

Bhuvaneshwar was eventually dismissed by Tehlan,caught and bowled,for 75,but even with a declaration looming,there were to be no fireworks as Amir Khan dug in at one end,while Praveen Kumar — who impressed with the bat against Australia — took 40 balls to score his first 10 runs. UP finally declared with three overs left in the day,with Wednesday’s efforts at the crease amounting to just 236 runs off 85 overs.

Brief scores: Uttar Pradesh 536 for 7 declared in 167 overs ( T Srivastava 109,Parvinder Singh 108,Bhuvaneshwar Kumar 75,S Raina 69,Praveen Kumar 33 not out; Awana 2/73,Bhatia 2/98) vs Delhi 9/0.