Kanpur: Dhruv Chand Jurel’s valiant knock of 96 runs helped Uttar Pradesh post a respectable total of 237 in their first innings against Vidarbha on the opening day of their final pool league match at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur on Thursday.In reply, the hosts reached 33 without loss before stumps were drawn for the day. Openers A. Mokhade and Satyam Bhoyar were batting on 19 and 12 respectively when the umpires called off play. UP’s innings revolved around Jurel and Shivam Mavi, who stitched together a crucial 92-run partnership for the sixth wicket to stabilise the innings after an early collapse. Jurel was unfortunate to miss out on a century, falling just four runs short. He was dismissed by left-arm orthodox bowler Harsh Dubey after scoring 96 off 122 balls, an innings that included 11 boundaries. Dubey emerged as the chief destroyer for Vidarbha, claiming six wickets for 63 runs. Opting to bat first proved costly for UP as Dubey and Bhute reduced them to 50 for four in 26 overs. Abhishek Goswami, Aryan Juyal and Aditya Sharma were dismissed by Dubey, while Madhav Kaushik fell to Bhute. Jurel then walked in and held one end firm. Jurel first shared a 43-run stand with Siddharth Yadav for the fifth wicket before adding 92 runs with Mavi for the sixth wicket. The partnership was broken by part-time bowler Yash Kadam, who had Mavi caught by PR Rekhade in the deep. Mavi scored 47 runs, including five boundaries and a six. After Jurel’s dismissal at 220, the remaining UP batters managed only 17 additional runs. UP coach Arvind Kapoor said the wicket was offering turn and that batsmen needed to apply themselves with patience. He expressed disappointment over some careless shot selection but remained hopeful that UP’s bowlers would be able to defend the total on the testing surface. Brief scores: UP first innings – 237 (Dhruv Chand Jurel 96, Shivam Mavi 47, Kartik Yadav 17; Harsh Dubey 6/63) Vidarbha first innings – 33 for no loss (A Mokhade batting 19, Satyam Bhoyar batting 12).
