Rizwan Shamshad propels UP to 416-run lead

Close of play Uttar Pradesh 316 and 361 for 7 (Rizwan Shamshad 88, Ravikant Shukla 64, Suresh Raina 55) lead Sialkot 261 by 416 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Uttar Pradesh ended the third day with a massive 416-run lead after Rizwan Shamshad paced his innings thoughtfully - playing the percentages when the bowlers were disciplined and exploding in the third session when he could manage some leeway. But despite the advantage UP currently enjoy the result is far from a foregone conclusion.

When UP started batting today, the plan would have been simple. Put runs on the board at a fast clip, set up a target and push for a declaration in the last session. The plan was well under way in the pre-lunch session when Suresh Raina bolted off with a feisty fifty - 147 runs were rattled off in 35 overs - but hit a speed-breaker in the second session when they were pegged back by some niggardly bowling. But, post-tea, UP raced off again, thanks to the Shamshad show, to a position of strength from where they can apply pressure on the visitors.

Never hurried into his shots, Shamshad, playing in his 105th first-class game, imposed himself in the last session in a serene manner, cutting and pulling Sarfraz Ahmed who didn't hit the right areas. With one eye on the declaration, he dismantled Sarfraz before proceeding to tear apart the medium pace of Tahir Mughal. A fierce cut and a caressed cover-drive - he never looked ungainly even when going for the broke - was followed by a spanking pull as the runs leaked from both ends. Earlier, in the second session, when his partner Ravikant Shukla was strangled by the bowling, Shamshad had chosen to jog at an easy pace. Of course, there was a pull here, a lofted drive there, but for the main he chose to play quietly. Maybe, the plan was to run the bowlers to ground, preserve wickets and go for it in the last session. Jyoti Yadav was the ideal partner, rotating the strike with singles and slipping in a few biffed-hits to the fence. Shamshad fell, 12 runs short of what would have been his 20th first-class ton, to a very good tumbling catch by the substitute fielder Satvinder Singh, the local under-22 cricketer who had to take the field as Sialkot camp was hit by injuries, at square-leg when he top-edged a pull.

The positive intent that Shamshad revealed in the last session was evident through the first session when UP came out attacking. Even, and especially, when a wicket fell, they counter-attacked. Rohit Srivastava took charge when Shiva Shukla fell after an innings that promised many more than what he ended up with, and when Srivastava departed, Raina imposed himself. Sadly, for a match named after Mohammad Nissar, the express Indian bowler of yore, Mohammad Asif, easily the best fast bowler on view, couldn't showcase his bowling prowess due to a shoulder niggle. That not only would have disappointed the cricket romantics but also hurt Sialkot.

Raina, who reached his 15th first-class half-century in the 42nd over of the innings, took time to settle down before the Srivastava dismissal sparked off the aggressive instinct in him. He waltzed down the track to the left-arm spinner Abdur Rehman and swung him over wide mid-on for two consecutive fours. But Rehman had the last laugh, dismissing Raina, at the stroke of lunch, by holding back the length when the batsman ran down the wicket and the ball spun to beat an intended flick shot.

Shukla looked to be in a hurry right from the start. After a few airy wafts - he edged one past the slips in the first over of the day - he began to middle his shots. The straight drives and cover-drives were unfurled, and, just when it seemed he had the measure of the bowlers, Mughal produced a peach of a delivery to send him packing. The ball landed on a length on the middle and appeared to be heading straight on before veering away at the last minute. Srivastava took over with a vengeance - he dispatched Mughal for four fours in the space of eight deliveries. A fierce cut past point, just a ball after the Shukla dismissal, set him rolling and, in a blink, three pull shots were unleashed. However, he fell, going for yet another pull.

After the aggression in the morning Sialkot attempted to come back in the game with a disciplined bowling performance in the afternoon. Although wickets didn't fall in a heap, the run-rate slowed down. Sarfraz Ahmed harassed Ravikant Shukla with his probing line in the corridor of uncertainty. Time and again, Ravikant was beaten by the movement, once edging it short of second slip, as he kept playing away from his body. However, luck continued to favour him - he might well be tempted to buy a lottery ticket after the day's play - as edges fell either short or were, when they carried, put down. Sarfraz dropped a dolly, when Ravikant was on 28, at mid-off in the first over upon resumption while another chance went down in the slips after he had gone past his fifty. To his credit, Ravikant didn't let all this affect him and reached his half-century before he fatally flirted at a delivery outside the off stump.

Going into the final day the match is intriguingly poised. Sialkot have the firepower of Imran Nazir, who dazzled in the first innings, and the experience of Shoaib Malik, who can either force or slow the pace as the situation demands, and would be quietly confident of saving the game and, maybe, even pulling off an unlikely victory. UP seems to be aware of this potential danger as evident by their decision not to declare even after Shamshad fell in the 88th over of the innings. Following Shamsad's dismissal UP eked out only 35 runs in the 10 overs that were possible.

There were two options for the hosts, either dangle the carrot of a possible chase or bat the other side out of the game and hope the task of playing for a draw proves an unbearable burden. Clearly they have chosen the latter. But with the wicket likely to break further on the last day, if UP can prise out some early wickets, they could be in business.

Shiva Shukla c Khalid Mahmood b Tahir Mughal 36 (57 for 1)
Edged behind a seaming delivery

Rohit Srivastava c Mahmood b Shehzad Malik 33 ( 95 for 2)
Gloved a pull

Suresh Raina b Abdur Rehman 55 (165 for 3)
Went down the track to work the ball to the on side, missed

Ravikant Shukla c Majid Jahangir b Tahir Mughal 64 ( 238 for 4)
Chased a wide ball, edged to second slip

Rizwan Shamshad c Majid Jahangir b Mansoor Amjad 88 (326 for 5)
Top-edged a pull

P Kumar c Majid Jahangir b Tahir Mughal 1 (336 for 6)
Steered a fullish delivery straight to square-leg

Piyush Chawla c&b Majid Jahangir 8 (361 for 7)
Edged a drive onto his boots, popped up for a return catch