Ranji: Juyal Hits Ton to Take UP to 232/5

Hubli, Dec 17 (PTI) Young Uttar Pradesh opener Aryan Juyal struck a gritty 100, as he guided Uttar Pradesh to a modest 232/5 on the opening day of their Elite Group B Ranji Trophy game here on Tuesday.

Electing to bat first at the KSCA Hubli cricket ground, 18-year-old Juyal (109 off 251 balls, 11x4) stood tall, as he played a responsible and mature knock to pull his team out of trouble.

Juyal was the cynosure of eyes, as he did not take any unnecessary risk and ensured that he converted his start into a three-figure mark.

Juyal was ably supported by Mohammed Saif (56 batting off 124 balls, 8x4) who came in at number 5.

The duo stuck a 109-run stand and resurrected the innings.

Opener Almas Shaukat (22 off 76 balls; 3x4) and Juyal conjured a 56-run stand for the first wicket, before Karnataka pacer Ronit More dismissed Shaukat, who gave a catch to R Samarth.

Karnataka then pegged back the visitors as their medium-pacer Abhimanyu Mithun trapped one-down Madhav Kaushik (15 off 37 balls; 1x4) to leave them in a spot of bother at 80-2.

Two-down Akshdeep Nath (9 off 26 balls, 1x4) also fell cheaply, as UP slumped to 106-3.

However, the fall of wickets did not deter Juyal, who kept playing his shots and frustrated the opposition bowlers.

He found an able partner in Saif, as the duo conjured an 109-run stand for the fourth wicket and rebuilt their innings.

The duo took its time and hammered the lose deliveries.

It was only because of their stand that UP could pass the 200-run mark.

However, it was Mithun, who broke their stand after dismissing Juyal, who was caught by Devdutt Paddikal.

Mithun also removed Rinku Singh (4) quickly.

When stumps were drawn, Saif was at the crease along with Saurabh Kumar (12 not out).

For Karnataka, Mithun (3-45) was the pick of the bowlers, while More (1-22) and Shreyas Gopal (1-45) took a wicket each.

Tomorrow, Karnataka will look to bowl out UP as soon as possible and then their first target would be to take the crucial first inning lead.

Brief Scores: Uttar Pradesh 232/5 (Aryan Juyal 109, Mohammed Saif 56 batting; Abhimanyu Mithun 3-45) versus Karnataka.

At Dindigul: Himachal Pradesh 158 all out (Akash Vashist 35, Mayank Dagar 33; R Ashwin 5-65, R Sai Kishore 3- 22) versus Tamil Nadu 8/0 (Abhinav Mukund 6 batting, K Mukunth 2 batting). Tamil Nadu trail by 150 runs.

At Indore: Madhya Pradesh 125 all out (Yash Dubey 48, Himanshu Mantri 20; Anureet Singh 3-24; Soyeb Sopariya 3-38) versus Baroda 86/3 (Vishnu Solanki 27 batting, Krunal Pandya 22 batting; Avesh Khan 2-18). Baroda trail by 39 runs.

At Visakhapatnam: Railways 202/9 (Pratham Singh 98, Karn Sharma 52; Jaydev Unadkat 4-34, Prerak Mankad 2-33) versus Saurashtra.

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