Uday Kaul's ton bolsters Punjab to 324-7

Chandigarh, Nov 23 (UNI) Precariously placed at 17 for 3, left handed Uday Kaul propped up Punjab to 324 for 7 on the opening day of their four-day Elite Group B Ranji Trophy match against Uttar Pradesh at the PCA Stadium here today.

At close of play, Kaul was batting on 151 (24x4s, 232 balls) and giving him company was debutant Charanjit Singh on 29 (4x4s). They have so far contributed 84 runs for the unbeaten eighth wicket stand.

Playing his third season, Kaul scored his career-best innings.

His previous highest was 141 against Orissa in Amritsar in the current season.

Uttar Pradesh won the toss and elected to bat. Medium pacers Sudeep Tyagi (2 for 88) and Praveen Kumar (4 for 60) troubled the Punjab batsmen. The hosts lost opener Ravneet Ricky (3), Sunny Sohal (8) and Karan Goel (2) with score card reading just 17.

Punjab skipper and seasoned campaigner Pankaj Dharmani (46, 10x4) and Kaul stemmed the rot as they put on 86 runs for the fourth wicket. They carried the score to 103 before Dharmani was adjudged leg before wicket to Praveen Kumar.

At the departure of Dharmani, Ravi Inder joined Kaul. They flayed the Uttar Pradesh bowlers. Batting with confidence, the runs started flowing from their bats with ease. They put on 121 runs for the fifth wicket.

Praveen Kumar broke this partnership when he had Inder caught by Amir Khan. Inder contributed valuable 45 runs in 89 balls and 120 minutes. His knock contained six fours.

Later in the innings, Kaul found another reliable partner in debutant Charanjit (29 batting). Their eighth wicket unbeaten partnership has so far yielded 84 runs.

Scoreboard Punjab (Ist innings) Ravneet Ricky b Sudeep Tyagi 3 K Goel c Amir Khan b Praveen Kumar 2 S Sohal c Raina b Tyagi 8 P Dharmani lbw b Praveen Kumar 46 U Kaul not out 151 R Inder c Amir Khan b Praveen Kumar 45 A Kakkar c Kaif b Piyush Chawla 3 M Gony lbw b Kumar 8 Charanjit Singh not out 29 Extras (b 20, lb 7, nb 2) 29 Total (for 7 wickets in 90 overs) 324 Fall of wickets: 1-3, 2-11, 3-17, 4-103, 5-224, 6-229, 7-240.

Bowling P Kumar 25.2-6-60-4 S Tyagi 23.4-4-88-2 M Abid Khan 19-4 65-0 Ravikant Shukla 2-0-5-0 Piyush Chawla 20-2-79-1.

UNI