Ranji Trophy: Shivam Mavi & Co. help UP take upper hand

With three wickets remaining in the first innings, Saurashtra trails by 215 runs.

File Photo: Ankit Rajpoot (right) chipped in with two wickets.

Uttar Pradesh’s fast bowlers scythed through Saurashtra’s batting line-up to leave the side struggling at 170 for 7, on the second day of their Ranji Trophy contest here on Wednesday.

Saurashtra trails by 215 in the first innings, with two days left in the contest.

Shivam Mavi (3 for 39) was the wrecker-in-chief. He was ably supported by Ankit Rajpoot (2 for 58) and Yash Dayal (2 for 35). One of Mavi’s three wickets was that of Cheteshwar Pujara, who was dismissed for 11.

RANJI TROPHY QUARTERFINALS - DAY TWO | AS IT HAPPENED

Rajpoot’s two wickets were off successive deliveries; he helped reduce Saurashtra to 35 for 2. Towards the end of the day, Mavi emulated the feat — also taking two wickets off two deliveries. This included the dismissal of Harvik Desai, Saurashtra’s top-scorer so far (84 runs).

The most prized wicket was of Pujara, however. Fresh from his exploits in Australia, the middle-order batsman lasted only 28 deliveries, scoring two boundaries in his short stay.

Prerak Mankad kept Saurashtra afloat with an unbeaten knock of 42. He was batting alongside Dharmendrasinh Jadeja by the end of the day’s play.

Brief Scores

Saurashtra 170 for 7 (Harvik Desai 84, Shivam Mavi 3 for 29) trails Uttar Pradesh 385 (Rinku Singh 150, Saurabh Kumar 55, Jaydev Unadkat 5 for 86, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja 3 for 111) by 215 runs.