Half centuries from Suresh Raina (66) and Parveen Kumar (51 not out) helped Uttar Pradesh [Images] recover from a wobbly start and reach a respectable 275 for eight against Railways on the opening day of their Group B Ranji Super League match in New Delhi [Images] on Saturday.
Uttar Pradesh captain Mohammad Kaif's decision to bat first seemed to have boomeranged as Railways pacer Anureet Singh and spinner Karan Sharma rocked the opposition top-order to reduce them to 125 for five after lunch at the Karnail Singh Stadium.
Opener Tanmay Srivastava was dismissed cheaply for eight with his team score reading 15 for one. Raina who came in after the dismissal of Srivastava made a patient 66 (90 balls, 8x4).
The 76-run second wicket partnership between Raina and opener Shivakant Shukla did help UP steady the innings.
However skipper Kaif was out for a first-ball duck off Karan, leaving his team in tatters.
Once Raina was out to Anureet in the 40th over when the UP scoreboard read 122 for four, Piyush Chawla [Images] (47) and Praveen took the responsibility to steer the ship and take the team score to near 300.
Praveen's fine knock of 51 came from just 56 balls which included six fours and one six. He was at the crease along with wicketkeeper Amir Khan when the stumps were drawn for the day.
Chawla also made a valuable contribution with his knock of 47 which came from 85 balls with the help of four shots to the fence and one over it.
For Railways, Anureet and Karan claimed three wickets each for 60 and 59 runs respectively while India discard Murli Kartik chipped in with two wickets for 57 runs.
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