Ranji Trophy: Suresh Raina shines amongst others to put Uttar Pradesh in driver's seat against Tamil Nadu

Uttar Pradesh produced a solid batting display, reaching 277 for 4 in their first innings against Tamil Nadu on the opening day of their Group B Ranji Trophy match at Kanpur on Sunday.

Top order batsmen Almas Shaukat (88), Umang Sharma (73) and Suresh Raina (52 not out) scored half-centuries after they were asked to take the first strike by Tamil Nadu skipper Abhinav Mukund. At the draw of stumps, Raina and Saurabh Kumar (9 off 11) were at the crease at the Green Park Stadium. Aswin Crist (1/75), Kaushik J (1/31), M Mohammed (1/59) and Vijay Shankar (1/53) picked one wicket each.

Uttar Pradesh openers Shaukat and Himanshu Asnora (30) played with caution early on to set the foundation for their team. They lost their first wicket in the 28th over when Aswin Crist had the latter caught behind by Dinesh Karthik. Shaukat then joined hands with Sharma and added 111 runs for the second wicket before he was dismissed by Vijay Shankar with Karthik once again taking the catch in the 66th over.

Sharma and Raina then added 59 runs before the former was sent back to the hut by Kaushik J with Karthik doing the needful. Raina and Akshdeep Nath (19) then tried to build up a partnership but the latter was removed by M Mohammed with R Prasanna taking the catch.

Brief Score:
Uttar Pradesh 1st innings: 277/4 in 87 overs (Almas Shaukat 88; Kaushik J 1/35).