Chawla hits ton but UP concede 1st innings lead to Karnataka

Chawla made a well-made 104 off 135 deliveries to guide UP to 319 in their first innings in reply to Karnataka's 416.

At stumps, the visitors were sitting pretty at 178 for two in their second essay, taking an overall lead on 275 runs over UP with just one day to go.

Amit Verma (31) and Manish Pandey (9) were at the crease when stumps were drawn after 42 overs.

Out-of-form Robin Uthappa (67) and K B Pawan (50) gave a solid start to Karnataka in their second innings with a 128-run opening stand before both fell to Rohit Choudhary (2/45).

Earlier resuming at 163 for five, Chawla and Bhuvaneshwar Kumar (62) carried on from where they left last eveing and added 45 runs more to their overnight 73-run seventh-wicket stand to carry forward Karnataka's march before the latter was caught by Pandey off Stuart Binny.

Chawla then shared 45 runs for the eighth wicket with wicket-keeper Aamir Khan (39) before he was caught by Sreenath Arvind at the deep off Verma. The dimunitive left-hander struck 18 fours and one lofty hit over the fence.

Rohit Choudhary (17) and Praveen Gupta (20 not out) too made useful contributions down the order but eventually it was not enough to overhaul Karnataka in the first innings as the home team fell short by 97 runs.

Udit Patel (3/92) and Verma (2/33) shone with the ball for Karnataka at the Green Park today.

Brief Scores:

Karnataka: 416 and 178 for two in 42 overs (Robin Uthappa 67, K B Pawan 50; Rohit Choudhary 2/45).

Uttar Pradesh (Overnight 163 for five): 319 all out in 102.4 overs (Piyush Chawla 104, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 62; Udit Patel 3/92, Amit Verma 2/33)