Delhi stumble after Gambhir's 86

Left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar's three wickets led Uttar Pradesh's comeback on the second day after Delhi had threatened to dominate on the back of a Gautam Gambhir half-century.

Delhi needed less than half an hour in the morning to take the two remaining UP wickets and bowl them out for 291. Upendra Yadav, who had dragged UP's lower order to stumps on the first day, continued to attack Delhi's bowling. He brought up his fifty early in the day when he squeezed a cover drive to the boundary. He followed it with a slap on the up to send an Ishant Sharma ball into the pavilion's roof. The tailenders weren't as comfortable against the new ball and Upendra was unbeaten on 67 as UP folded in 89.5 overs.

Delhi's response was brisk, with Gambhir slashing the first ball he faced through point. He backed that up with a few clips through midwicket, comfortably negating UP's tactics of bowling at the stumps.

His opening partner Unmukt Chand wasn't as comfortable, but his 21 contributed to an opening stand of 59. No. 3 Dhruv Shorey then joined Gambhir and the pair put on 66 for the second wicket. Saurabh, who had dismissed Chand, also got rid of Gambhir to prop up the visitors.

A shuffled Delhi batting order then unravelled quickly either side of Rishabh Pant's 23-ball 30. The shuffle was made because left-handed batsman Nitish Rana had to be taken to hospital after copping an underarm throw in his face during warm-up. The batsman came in at No. 7 and made 13 before seamer Ankit Rajpoot had him caught behind.

Shorey witnessed the collapse at the other end, but dug in to score an unbeaten fifty and keep Delhi alive in their pursuit of the first-innings lead.