Ranji Trophy 2016-17, Round-5, Day-2: Openers and Yuvraj put Punjab in a commanding position

Hyderabad: Punjab look towards taking a big lead against Uttar Pradesh in the 5th round of Ranji Trophy game here at Rajiv Gandhi International stadium, Hyderabad. With help of Sandeep Sharma’s 5-fer, Punjab cleaned up Uttar Pradesh for 335 and later ended the 2nd day at 244 for the loss of 3 wickets. Captain Yuvraj Singh continued his form and added an unbeaten 72 after Jiwanjot and Vohra’s fifties gave a good start for their side.

Uttar Pradesh didn’t last long on the 2nd day morning as they batted just 12.5 overs adding 35 runs for the loss of their remaining 4 wickets. Kuldeep Yadav added 9 runs to his overnight score of 62 before getting dismissed by giving a catch to mid-off in Sandeep Sharma’s bowling. Another overnight batsman Saurabh Kumar brought up his fifty in 65 balls before getting out to Siddharth Kaul. Sandeep cleaned up the tail-enders and bagged a 5-wicket haul.

Openers Manan Vohra and Jiwanjot Singh gave a good start to Punjab with both of them scoring fifties. Jiwanjot scored boundaries regularly while Vohra looked to settle at the crease before going for shots. The pair survived quite a few close calls but the umpire’s decisions made the crowd at the ground unhappy, as they turned up to watch Yuvraj Singh’s batting. Jiwanjot’s innings of 62 off 123 balls came to end after been trapped in front by Saurabh Kumar. Vohra, who was hit in the stomach early on, struck 7 fours and a six in his innings of 59. He departed after giving a return catch to Saurabh soon after his 117-run stand with Jiwanjot came to an end.

Yuvraj Singh walked in ahead of Mandeep Singh and announced his entry by smashing consecutive boundaries down the ground off Saurabh. He followed it with an on-drive in Kuldeep’s bowling. However, Kuldeep came back well to bowl a maiden over to Yuvraj, which seen two close appeals turned down by the umpire. In the last over before Tea, he struck a boundary on pull shot to Ankit Rajpoot.

Yuvraj, along with Uday Kaul kept the score ticking after the Tea. After a boundary through a drive down the ground to Kuldeep, Yuvraj tried the same shot which ended up hitting to the silly point fielder Samrath Singh’s hand, who had to leave the field after the blow. While on 44, Yuvraj survived a run-out scare trying to take a quick single. On the next ball itself, he was dropped by Umang Sharma at the 1st slip off Kuldeep.

Also read – Ranji Trophy 2016-17: Round 5, Day 2 Review

With a six off Saurabh Kumar over long-off, Yuvraj brought up his fifty in 77 balls. After his fifty, Yuvraj continued to play his shots and raced to 70. Towards the end of the day, he edged one off Ankit Rajpoot to 1st slip, where Umang Sharma once again dropped the catch.

Saurabh Kumar got his third wicket when Uday Kaul hit one straight to the fielder on 34 off 89 balls. The wicket brought an end to the 97-run stand between him and Yuvraj for the 3rd wicket. Mandeep Singh, unbeaten on 10, ensured Punjab didn’t lose any more wickets.

Brief scores:

Uttar Pradesh: 335/10 (Kuldeep Yadav 71; Sandeep Sharma 5/85) vs Punjab: 244/3 (Yuvraj Singh 72*; Saurabh Kumar 3/59)