Raina, RP Singh put UP in command
India Test discards Suresh Raina and RP Singh struck telling blows with bat and ball respectively for the second time in the match as Uttar Pradesh took control against Baroda in Moti Bagh
ESPNcricinfo staff
09-Nov-2013
Baroda 228 and 5 for 2 need another 364 runs to beat Uttar Pradesh 302 and 294 for 6 (Srivastava 125*, Raina 65)
Scorecard
Scorecard
India Test discards Suresh Raina and RP Singh struck telling blows with bat and ball respectively for the second time in the match as Uttar Pradesh took control against Baroda in Moti Bagh. On a deteriorating pitch, UP built on their first-innings lead of 74 to extend it to 368 before declaring. Raina scored 65 but the innings was built around the opener Tanmay Srivastava who finished unbeaten on 125.
Spin accounted for all ten wickets in UP's first innings and the hosts, having already conceded an innings lead, needed wickets to prevent Baroda from extending their advantage. The spinners bowled in tandem with several men around the bat in the first session and there were plenty of close bat-pad and lbw appeals that were turned down. Mukul Dagar and Srivastava added 111 before a double-strike gave Baroda hope.
Bhargav Bhatt, who took a five-for in the first innings, was on a hat-trick, having trapped Dagar padding up and getting Mohammad Kaif to edge to slip. Raina, who scored 123 in the first innings, batted positively hitting seven boundaries in his 65 off 86 balls. His 110-run stand with Srivastava took the game further away from Baroda and UP batted themselves into a position from which they could declare.
Raina aimed to push the scoring following his fifty by looking to cut the spinners. After several unsuccessful attempts, he managed to edge one from the offspinner Utkarsh Patel to the keeper. Srivastava reached his century shortly after tea and when the declaration came, UP had the final half hour to have a crack at Baroda.
RP, who took a four-wicket haul in the first innings, struck off the first ball of the chase when Saurabh Wakaskar poked his bat out at an away swinger and edged behind. Aditya Waghmode played and missed and lost his middle stump to RP. Baroda ended the day at a uneasy 5 for 2, having to face an in-form RP and a wearing surface on the final day to survive.
