Nazir special brings Sialkot back

Uttar Pradesh 316 (Shamshad 84) and 14 for 0 lead Sialkot 261 (Nazir 123) by 69 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

The second day of the match between the domestic champions from India and Pakistan ran along similar lines to the first. Uttar Pradesh's bowlers reduced Sialkot to 96 for 6 but Imran Nazir's cavalier century from No.7 boosted them to a competitive 261. UP ended the day on 14 for no loss with an overall lead of 69.

Nazir had initially opened the innings but was forced to retire after just two balls because of a shoulder injury sustained during fielding. He returned to the middle after the top order capitulated to some disciplined bowling and outstanding catching from Uttar Pradesh. Sialkot's batsmen were guilty of the same error committed by UP's top order on the first day: they were too hasty on a slow pitch that offered little bounce. As a result several wickets were lost to indiscreet shots.

When Shoaib Malik departed for 24, one of many Sialkot batsmen who frittered starts, Nazir decided it was time to get a move on. He broke loose when given the chance while at the same time played his percentages to ensure minimum risk. He lofted Piyush Chawla, the young legspinner, down the ground repeatedly and got stuck into the fast bowlers. When his shoulder caused him any sort of discomfort, he merely gave it a short massage and continued pummelling the boundary hoardings. He steamed to his century off just 96 balls and formed the mainstay of a 122-run partnership with Tahir Mughal for the seventh wicket.

UP had Sialkot by the scruff of the neck before Nazir arrived. In the first two sessions they bowled a tight line and forced the batsmen into mistakes. RP Singh, India's left-arm seamer, got one to lift suddenly on a dead pitch and Shahid Yousuf, who had raced to 24 off 17 balls, nicked an attempted cut. Mansoor Ahmed had his middle stump uprooted by a shooter and Shezhad Malik was struck in front by another that kept low but they should have known better than to play back on a pitch with such low bounce. To compound Sialkot's woes, Suresh Raina pulled off an acrobatic catch - diving one-handed to his left at cover - and Ravikant Shukla matched it at slip to dismiss Malik.

Then began a spectacular fightback typified by Nazir's flashing blade. Though the boundaries flowed from Nazir's bat, Mughal's support was invaluable. Once Mughal fell, deceived by Chawla's googly, Asif followed and Sialkot were hobbling at 218 for 8. Nazir then proceeded to farm the strike and propelled the score to 261.

Thirteen wickets fell on the day and three of those were of UP's first innings which resumed on 268 for 7. Sialkot started perfectly when Sarfraz Ahmed snared Amir Khan with the second ball of the day. However, Rizwan Shamshad marshalled the tail and his innings of 84 helped UP cross the 300 run mark.

In spite of Nazir's innings UP ended the day with the upperhand. Their openers Rohit Prakash and Shivakant Shukla negotiated eight overs to see them through to stumps without any damage. They even managed to keep out Mohammad Asif who had recovered from a back problem that allowed him to bowl only 6.4 overs in the first innings.

Amir Khan c Mashood b Sarfraz 23 (269 for 8)
Push forward and nicked one that slanted across him

RP Singh b Mughal 15 (306 for 9)
Push forward and nicked one that slanted across him

Shahid Yousuf c Amir b RP Singh 24 (24 for 1)
Slashed at one that bounced a bit more, edged to the wicketkeeper

Mansoor Amjad b Kumar 3 (15 for 2)
Kept very low and uprooted middle stump

Majid Jehangir c Raina b Chawla 15 (45 for 3)
Driven in the air, one-handed catch diving to his left at cover

Abdur Rehman c Mashood b Kumar 0 (55 for 4)
Nicked one in the channel outside off stump while trying to defend

Shezhad Malik lbw Srivastava 14 (89 for 5)
Missed a flick, hit low on the pad

Shoaib Malik c Shukla b Srivastava 24 (96 for 6)
Drove away from his body, sharp catch to his right at second slip

Tahir Mughal b Chawla 29 (218 for 7)
Missed a slog swep and was bowled by the googly

Mohammad Asif b Chawla 0 (218 for 8)
Played down the wrong line of a googly

Sarfraz Ahmed b Kumar 4 (236 for 9)
Slogged from the crease and missed

Imran Nazir c Raina b RP Singh 123 (261 all out)
Cut in the air to cover