Praveen sends Gujarat packing

A strong Gujarat batting line-up, led by Parthiv Patel, surrendered in front of UP’s seamers, with Praveen Kumar showing the way, reports Sharad Deep.

It's almost all over for Gujarat in their quarterfinal tie against Uttar Pradesh. A strong Gujarat batting line-up, led by Parthiv Patel, surrendered in front of UP’s seamers, with Praveen Kumar showing the way. Imtiyaz Ahmed and Bhuvaneshwar Kumar chipped in and Gujarat succumbed to 117 all out in response to UP’s first-innings 305.

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With a handsome 188-run first innings lead, Mohhammed Kaif and his team chose to bat again in their second innings instead of enforcing follow-on. It could turn out to be a good move to get some batting practice under the belt as bigger battles await.

Praveen Kumar was praised for his accuracy before the start and was on song from the very first delivery. As soon as he scalped opener Priyank Panchal (0) with the third ball of his second over, Praveen didn’t look back. He removed Nilesh Modi (9), Niraj Patel (14), Bhavik Thakar (0) and last man Siddarth Trivedi (4) with in a fine display of swing bowling. This was Praveen’s second five-wicket haul of the season, and was also his best first-class figures so far. There was no question of relief for Gujarat as seamers Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and Imtiyaz Ahmed too responded well.

In reply, UP rode high on unbeaten knocks by Tanmay Srivastava (42) and Suresh Raina (29) and were 76/1 at stumps.