Murtaza puts UP in strong position against TN

Ali Murtaza scored a fluent 152-ball 106 and then bagged four wickets as Uttar Pradesh took control of their Group B Ranji Trophy match against Tamil Nadu in Chennai on Sunday.

At stumps on the second day, Tamil Nadu were struggling at 149 for six in reply to Uttar Pradesh's first-innings total of 392 all out.

Resuming on overnight 279 for six, Uttar Pradesh were served well by the 22-year-old left-handed Murtaza from Hyderabad, who struck 10 fours and three sixes during his stay at the crease.

Murtaza added 120 runs for the seventh wicket with Prashant Gupta (57 off 104 balls) and 67 for the eighth wicket with Praveen Gupta who contributed with an unbeaten knock of 29.

Murtaza made the day memorable for him when he returned impressive figures of four for 65 to leave the hosts in a spot of bother.

Ramaswamy Prasanna and Yo Mahesh were batting on 16 and nine respectively when the stumps were drawn.

Tamil Nadu trailed by 243 runs with four wickets remaining in the first innings.

Brief scores:
Uttar Pradesh (1st innings): 392 all out in 128.5 overs (Ali Murtaza 106, Mohammad Kaif 68, Prashant Gupta 57; Malolan Rangarajan 4/107)
Tamil nadu (1st innings): 149 for six in 57 overs (Murali Vijay 42; Ali Murtaza 4/65).