Tamil Nadu top order tires out UP

Tamil Nadu 296 for 2 (Mukund 100, Vijay 69, Badri 59*, Karthik 58*) v Uttar Pradesh
Scorecard

	Not too shabby, eh? Abhinav Mukund and M Vijay added 167 for the first wicket © Cricinfo Ltd

The punishment Abhinav Mukund and M Vijay handed out to the Uttar Pradesh bowlers on the first day of the semi-final in Nagpur raised once again the importance - underlined through this Ranji season - of separating them early in their partnership.

Mukund scored a stroke-filled century, his fourth of the season, Vijay fell short of what would have been his second, and the two put on 167 to give Tamil Nadu charge on a flat featherbed. S Badrinath and Dinesh Karthik, scoring fluently, recorded their fourth fifty-plus scores of the season as Tamil Nadu scored at a rate quick enough to hurt UP.

UP's bowlers lacked inspiration and the persistence to toil. They will need to find both for what looks like a long haul. It's not a situation they are familiar with; in the last three years, they have bowled more than 150 overs in an innings on only two occasions - both occasions in this season, against Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

After Tamil Nadu won the toss, Mukund and Vijay found the pitch to their liking and initially threatened a repeat of their 462-run stand against Maharashtra in the first match of the season. They are aggressive and quick in scoring and running between the wickets. That made it difficult for the bowlers to pin down one batsman and dry up the runs. Mukund began hurting them with incisive drives, through the covers and straight down the ground. Vijay was solid on the drives, too, and he late-cut to good effect.

The only hurdle was in negotiating Praveen Kumar and Bhuvneshwar Kumar; they not only did but also scored fast against them. They brought up the 50-run stand in the 14th over by which time Mohammad Kaif had to resort to medium-pacer Imtiyaz Ahmed. Praveen and Bhuvneshwar are not express and Imtiyaz slower than the two. As the runs started coming easily, spin was introduced. But Piyush Chawla was too inconsistent, and Praveen Gupta too innocuous.

Mukund was the first to reach his half-century, off 79 balls with 10 boundaries. By lunch UP had even used a part-time bowler, Parvinder Singh, while Mukund reached 65 and Vijay 59. Post lunch, the accumulation continued as before; the two batsmen added 150 in 46.1 overs. Vijay, perhaps looking to up the rate further, fell to Parvinder, going for a wide delivery and top-edging it to Praveen at mid-off. He scored 69. With the new batsman, Badrinath, in, Mukund took more responsibility and strike but didn't let the scoring slip even as Badrinath made a slow start. Mukund offered his only chance in his 90s, edging Parvinder to just in front of Kaif at first slip. He reached his hundred with a flick off Bhuvneshwar, an important innings in a big match. Ten balls later, he edged Bhuvneshwar to Amir Khan, who was standing up to the stumps.

By that time day, though, Badrinath was entrenched and ready to go on the onslaught. Bhuvneshwar and Praveen were pulled mercilessly when they tried the shorter ones. Any error in overpitching was punished severely too. Just before tea Kaif brought Chawla back for a second spell only to regret the move. Two straight drives from Badrinath were followed by two savage pulls either side of the break. Badrinath stepped out to loft Gupta for the first six of the match just after tea. Karthik, the new man, loosened up as well, and pulled Chawla for another boundary. His six-over spell cost Chawla 31 runs, and he looked far from creating a chance.

By the time new ball was taken in the 82nd over, Badrinath had reached his half-century, off 80 balls, that included 10 boundaries. Karthik followed him to the mark with a late-cut in the fourth over with the new ball, and also brought up 100 runs for the partnership. The only positive aspect for UP was their over-rate, bowling 91 overs in the allotted six hours, a rarity in domestic cricket. Tamil Nadu, who will need time to force a result on this unresponsive pitch, will not mind the extra overs at all.