Trying to deny Punjab a point in the Ranji Trophy Elite Group 'A' cricket match, Uttar Pradesh almost batted through the second day in Meerut on Sunday.

After opening batsman Rohit Prakash scored a marathon 186, spending seven hours and 48 minutes at the crease, Gnanendra Pandey and Rizwan Shamshad continued the dour batting display much to the desperation of the visitors.

Prakash, who had added 197 for the opening stand with Jyoti Yadav on Saturday, shared a 116-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Shamshad who made 65 from 169 balls and hit nine fours during his 229-minute stay at the crease.

Pandey's innings lasted even longer, 266 minutes, in which he faced 183 balls for his unbeaten 65.

At close, Punjab, who drew with Kerala in Palakkad in their previous match, had lost their opener Samrat Sharma with just one run on the board.

Scoreboard:
Uttar Pradesh 1st innings:
R Prakash lbw b Gagandeep Singh           186
Jyoti Yadav c Madan b R Sharma              72
Anshul Kapoor lbw b Navdeep Singh          0
Rahat Elahi b R Sharma                               7
Rizwan Shamshad st Madan b R Sharma    65
Gnanendra Pandey not out                         65
Nikhil Chopra c Sawal b R Sharma             7
Prashant Malviya lbw b Gagandeep Singh  13
Praveen Gupta LBW b Gagandeep Singh    1
Rathnesh Mishra lbw b Gagandeep Singh  21
Ashish Winston Zaidi run out                      1
Extras (b-5, lb-26, nb-2)                  33
Total (all out in 171.1 overs)            471
Fall of wickets: 1-197, 2-202, 3-211, 4-327, 5-357, 6-371, 7-400, 8-402, 9-466.
Bowling: Gagandeep Singh 29.1-3-97-4, Vineet Sharma 30-4-23-0, Rajneesh Sharma 15-1-37-0, Navdeep Singh 30-13-49-1, Rajesh Sharma 51-14-97-4, Dinesh Mongia 4-0-15-0, Sandeep Sawal 12-2-22-0.

Punjab 1st innings:
Ravneet Ricky batting                      1
Samrat Sharma c Malvia b Zaidi             0
Total (for 1 wicket in 0.4 overs)          1
Fall of wicket: 1-1.
Bowling: Ashish Winston Zaidi 0.4-0-1-1.