Skipper Aryan Juyal struck a fine century to complement the bowlers as Uttar Pradesh extended their lead by 278 runs on day 3 of their Ranji Trophy Group B fixture against Kerala here on Sunday.
Resuming at 220 for six, Kerala could add just 23 runs before being shot out for 243, handing Uttar Pradesh a 59-run lead.
Pacer Ankit Rajpoot (5/64) claimed the remaining four wickets to seize a fifer.
In their second innings, Uttar Pradesh were off to a great start with Juyal (115*) and Samarth Singh (43) sharing an 89-run opening partnership.
While Jalaj Saxena got rid of Samarth, Juyal and Priyam Garg (49*) added an unbeaten 120-run stand to put the team in the driver’s seat.
Ricky Bhui’s ton headlines Andhra’s fightback vs Bengal
In another Group B encounter in Visakhapatnam, Ricky Bhui (107) hit an unbeaten hundred to lead Andhra Pradesh’s fightback against Bengal, taking the team to 339 for six.
Resuming the day on 119 for 3, Andhra lost only three wickets, with Bhui and captain Hanuma Vihari (51) engaging in an 87-run stand for the fourth wicket. It was followed by two more decent partnerships, as Andhra trailed Bengal by 70 runs with one day to go.
For Bengal, Akash Deep and Mohammed Kaif have been the stars so far, clutching a couple of wickets each.
Brief scores
In Alappuzha: Uttar Pradesh 302 & 219-1 (Aryan Juyal 115 not out; Jalaj Saxena 1/52) leads Kerala 243 (Vishnu Vinod 74; Ankit Rajpoot 5/64) by 278 runs.
In Visakhapatnam: Bengal 409 (Sourav Paul 96, Anustup Majumdar 125, Abishek Porel 70; Lalith Mohan 4/134) leads Andhra 339-6 (Hanuma Vihari 51, Ricky Bhui 107; Mohammed Kaif 2/37) by 70 runs.
In Patna: Mumbai 251 (Bhupen Lalwani 65, Suved Parkar 50, Tanush Kotian 50; Veer Pratap Singh 5/45) leads Bihar 100 & 91-6 (Sharman Nigrodh 40; Shivam Dube 4/7) by 60 runs.
In Raipur: Chhattisgarh 327 (Ashutosh Singh 58, Amandeep Khare 116, Shashank Singh 82; Akash Sengupta 2/45) leads Assam 159 & 171-5 (Riyan Parag 82 batting; Jivesh Butte 2/35) by 3 runs.
