Yuvraj, Goel steady Punjab ship against UP

Big-time cricket always makes an impact in a small city. More so, if a match involves big-stage players like Yuvraj Singh, Rudra Pratap Singh, Mohd Kaif, Piyush Chawla and Praveen Kumar.

Big-time cricket always makes an impact in a small city. More so, if a match involves big-stage players like Yuvraj Singh, Rudra Pratap Singh, Mohd Kaif, Piyush Chawla and Praveen Kumar.

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A crowd of over 5000 had occupied their seats well before the Elite Group B match between Uttar Pradesh and Punjab had commenced at the Bhama Shah Ground on Monday. With autograph hunters hanging around the boundary ropes, Yuvraj Singh (52) entertained the crowd with eight boundaries and a six. But, they could post just 279/6 on a day where Punjab failed to seize the initiative after a great start on a placid turf.

Yuvraj's 98-minute stay was cut short soon after lunch by local boy, Praveen, who got a quicker one to come back and uproot the leg stump. Prior to that delivery, leg-spinner Piyush Chawla accounted for skipper Pankaj Dharmani (2).

Yuvraj was initially kept under check by Praveen. But, thereafter, the one-day specialist was unstoppable.

Two wickets off consecutive deliveries meant Yuvraj started cautiously and, along with Udai Kaul (27), rebuild the innings with a 61-run partnership for the third wicket. A mix-up led to the departure of Kaul, who found short by debutant Digvijay Singh Rawat's throw from silly point.

The UP bowlers too failed to take control after pushing Punjab on the backfoot at 143/5 in the 35th over.

Vishwas Bhalla (32) and Karan Goel batted patiently and put on 72 for the sixth wicket.