UP take 1st innings lead over TN

Chennai, Dec 27 (UNI) India ODI player Suresh Raina struck a fluent century (124) and another southpaw Ali Murtaza made a memorable first class debut, scoring a polished half century (68), to help defending champions Uttar Pradesh gain a 95-run first innings lead over Tamil Nadu on the third day of the Elite Group A Ranji Trophy match here today.

Tamil Nadu, struggling to avoid relegation for the first time in its history, scored 63 for no loss in 21 overs in its second essay, with Anirudha Srikkanth (48 not out, 67 balls, 8x4) and M Vijay (14 not out, 60 balls, 1x4) at the crease.

Raina, looking for a big score, and Murtaza, resuming at 33 and four respectively, ground the listless Tamil Nadu attack to score at ease. The two left handers added 165 runs for the fifth wicket in 59.4 overs to overhaul the home team's first innings score of 325 all out.

Mixing caution with aggression, they applied themselves to the task and piled the agony on the home team, which was yet to find its form in the prestigious tournament this year.

Raina hit 20 fours in his 230-ball essay, spanning nearly six hours, while Murtaza's 185-ball knock contained seven fours.

The exit of Murtaza and Raina in a space of 12 balls triggered a collapse as off spinner R Ashwin, playing in his second Ranji match, ran through the tail, bagging five of the last six wickets.

He eventually finished with an analysis of 44.3-12-128-6.

Uttar Pradesh lost their last six wickets for 64 runs in the space of 16.3 overs, collapsing from 356 for five to 420 all out.

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