DHARAMSHALA: Youngsters made their presence felt in a calculated manner as Uttar Pradesh finished the opening day of the four-day McDowell's Mohammad Nissar Trophy contest against Sialkot at 269 for seven, thanks mainly to some gritty batting by Ravikant Shukla, Piyush Chawla and Rizwan Shamshad.

In a brave decision, Uttar Pradesh, led by Suresh Raina in place of an indisposed Mohammad Kaif, opted to bat but came to grief against the wily Mohammad Asif, who had distinguished himself on the recent England tour. If Uttar Pradesh recovered later in the day, much credit goes to Shamshad, who batted flawlessly and in tune with the situation.

Asif exploited the moisture and bounce to fix Shivakant Shukla and Raina, with deceptive late swing. Shivakant was all at sea and came a cropper as an opener while Raina succumbed to seam movement, presenting slip with an easy catch.

Asif injured

Uttar Pradesh could relax for a while when Asif, who really enjoyed bowling in helpful conditions, left the field from a sprained upper back. But Sialkot gained from an incisive spell by seamer Tahir Mughal, who broke through the defence of Rohit Prakash.

Ravikant Shukla, rated high by U.P. coach Rajinder Singh Hans, produced a quality knock, demonstrating excellent shot selection and the desired temperament to guide the innings. It was an elegant show by Ravikant, who faced 110 balls and hit six fours and a six, before an indiscreet shot ended his attractive stay in the middle.

Uttar Pradesh's batting depth was highlighted by the dapper Piyush Chawla, who emerged the most compact batsman. Chawla chose the aggressive way to make his statement and slammed five fours and three sixes in his 55-ball entertainer.

Amidst a horde of youngsters, veteran Shamshad stood out for his disciplined approach. In a performance that should push his case in the season ahead, he carved out a resolute 60 with three fours off 158 balls, taking charge of the lower order and garnering priceless runs against an attack where seamer Sarfaraz Ahmed made an impression by sticking to a good line.

The scores:

Uttar Pradesh — 1st innings: R. Prakash b Mughal 16, S. Shukla lbw b Asif 1, S. Raina c Malik b Asif 5, R. Shukla c Jahangir b Ahmed 54, P. Kumar c & b Ahmed 2, J. Yadav c Mughal b Rehman 15, R. Shamshad (batting) 60, P. Chawla c Moghul b Yousuf 48, A. Khan (batting) 23; Extras (b- 19, lb-17, w-1, nb-8) 45; Total (for seven wkts. in 90 overs) 269.

Fall of wickets: 1-13, 2-23, 3-50, 4-53, 5-109, 6-121, 7-200.

Sialkot bowling: Asif 6.4-2-8-2, Ahmed 26-7-48-2, Mughal 20.2-2-80-1, Yousuf 2-0-8-1, Rehman 24-5-66-1, Majid 2-1-4-0, Malik 9-1-19-0.

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