da dobrowin： A century by opening batsman Jyoti Yadav and an unbeaten 81 by Test discardMohd
Sankhya Krishnan28-Dec-2000A century by opening batsman Jyoti Yadav and an unbeaten 81 by Test discardMohd. Kaif powered Uttar Pradesh to an imposing 298/2 on the opening day oftheir Central Zone Ranji Trophy clash against Vidarbha at the VCA ground inNagpur on Thursday. Both teams are currently languishing at the bottom of thezonal table, with UP having collected a mere three points from their two openingmatches while Vidarbha remain scoreless, again after two games.Batting first after winning the toss, UP openers N Ali and Yadav raised 111 forthe first wicket in just over 26 overs. Ali’s dismissal by Vidarbha skipperPradeep Gandhe for a brisk 58 (88 balls, 11 fours) set the stage for anotherfruitful partnership, between Yadav and Kaif. The two combined in a 123 runsecond wicket stand which ended in the final session when Yadav fell to openingbowler AM Piprode. His 109 came off 210 balls and included 17 hits to thepickets. Kaif was joined by skipper Gyanendra Pandey and the duo played out thenext 22 overs to take UP safely through to stumps, with their unbrokenassociation worth 64. Kaif was steadily progressing towards three figures,having compiled 81 (207 balls, 11 fours).